Playful Pillows

Los Angeles textile designer Paige Cleveland applies her own color theory to a striking new line of pillows. The founder of Downtown LA’s Rule of Three admits she thinks about color incessantly. After working for over a decade in the world’s of fashion and graphic design, Cleveland felt a need to step away from her computer screen and return to using her hands. With a love for textiles, plus time spent traveling the world and endless amounts of research on traditional textiles and ancient print making techniques, the direction of her line became clear and Rule of Three was born. Using natural dyes with techniques such as Suminagashi- the Japanese art of marbling- on cotton crepes, Belgian linens, and sand washed silks, Cleveland experiments endlessly with the interactions of patterns and colors inside her airy Arts District loft.

Her new, made-to-order marbled collection is influenced by the palette of late artist Cy Twombly’s images of Gaeta, Italy, as well as the hues in her grandfather’s photography of wheat harvest, and sand and shells procured from the beaches of Georgia’s Sea Islands. The hand-marbled pieces are the result of laborious process in which custom-blended permanent acrylic paints are applied to materials such as watercolor paper or silk- as Cleveland tries to make all of the elements dance on the fabric in a romantic and playful manner. She has also taught workshoppers the art of marbling on paper, where students began by learning traditional patterns based on ancient Turkish and Japanese techniques, and once the basics have been mastered, they were invited to experiment with creating their own color palettes and unique patterns. www.ruleofthreestudio.com