Finnegan's Patterns

There are endlessly great patterns in the world of textiles. When faced with upholstering an entire room for, both owner and architect struggled to find fabric with meaning. Which fabric is best suited to the family, the space, and the vernacular of the region? It felt like an arbitrary decision. We approached Shannon Finnegan—a local artist and friend of the family—to adapt one of her meticulous ink-on-paper drawings into a printable screen print. Shannon graciously accepted the challenge and the project gained focus, intent, and personality. This would set off a (nearly) year long project.

Shannon wrestled with ways to adapt a unique, hand-drawn pattern into a repeating, reproducible screen print. Matthew created precise drawings of room and began sourcing fabric, screen printers, and installers. Together, Matthew and Shannon worked back and fourth to evolve the process. Each new step building on the last. After months of testing, we settled on a yarn-dyed fabric from Robert Kaufman, we insisted on hand-screen printing white ink, and we fell in love with an impossible delicate pattern. Everyone told us this was impossible, until we met EFS Designs, an old-world, family-owned screen printer. Based in the industrial neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn, they were the only company we found who was willing—in excited—to tackle this challenge. They created screens, mixed ink, and ran tests. All good. We have a plan.

The remaining logistics—including backing the fabric, finishing with stain and UV protection, and printing—produced 80 yards of pristinely printed