In this Blog: About Sofia Darras Studio, "So, how did I get here?", About the SD Icon, Outside the Studio, "And Now..." & Coming Soon!

October 30th, 2025: Day One of Sofia Darras Studio

Sofia Darras Studio is where my pattern-design comes to life as artfully curated textile collections. Household Linens & Items. Fabrics. Upholstery. Pattern-Design Collaborations. Custom Pattern-Design Commissions & Design Licensing and more… I’ve been endlessly daydreaming, busily note-taking, full-heartedly-reflecting, praying, manifesting, and anticipating this for longer than I can remember. And it’s finally time!

New Logo Gallery (below)

Since taking the turn to do all-things-creative full-time, I am so thankful to have had the intentional time and space to reflect, read, write (so much writing), and determine where I want to take my career. And every time it comes back to leaning into my pattern design and creating my own artisan textile line. For me, it’s one of those things where if there’s a world of possibilities and options, the first idea feels and seems too obvious, so you explore all the other options and end up turning back to where you started and choosing the first idea because it’s always been “the one”. While my business will focus on my pattern-design & textiles, I will continue to explore all forms of my creativity, as each kind teaches me more about myself and my process, and inherently encourages my decision to focus on pattern design and textile brand (as I write this, I still can’t believe this is now my work and my life). That being said, I will still be accepting a limited amount of painting & illustration commissions and dropping a limited amount of paintings.

The goals for Sofia Darras Studio are:

-to be a home for my pattern-design and to design textiles and curated products from them

-to connect & collaborate with other artists and brands through products and licensing 

-to have limited painting & illustration commissions and drops

-to share and continually explore my own creativity & to learn as much as I can as I go

And my hope is that as I learn and my creativity evolves, that these goals continually evolve with it into something greater than I can even imagine now (fingers crossed!)

So, how did I get here? 

I can hear my aunts, grandmothers, and my mom saying, “I told you so…,” “we’ve been telling you about your future textile business since you were 9 years old and started incessantly freehand drawing detailed mandalas and patterns in your sketchbooks”. That has always stuck with me, they often reminded me (and still do), and here we are! They’re always right anyways.

I also have a distinct memory of being bored in class in elementary school and drawing in my notebook (as I did in every class), and copying the whimsical floral pattern that covered my lunchbox at the time. And I remember thinking, “that was fun” and “I love it” and “I love drawing like that”, and I haven’t stopped since. If I had to guess, I've probably drawn over 5,000 mandalas, icons, and patterns since then. Who knew? A lunchbox… I believe it was a bible study class (so do with that what you wish). 

Some Drawings from Childhood & Teenage Sketchbooks (below)

Another moment that resonated with me in my own artistic journey and “growing up", is learning about Polish Folk Art. It was sometime in high school where I started reading art history on my own, stumbled upon learning about Polish Folk Art, and realized I have naturally gravitated towards drawing and creating art in a style that my heritage is known for. If you’re new here, both sides of my family are one-hundred-percent Polish, and we were all raised very proud of it (ie.Imagine praising Polish traditions and food, my adorable great-grandmothers singing Polish Christmas carols together for us every Christmas, and my Grandpa Dave playing Polish Folk Music on the harmonica and accordion every chance he gets, and so much more). Realizing my art was similar to styles in Polish Folk Art, made it feel like a part of something bigger than myself, like it was meant to be, and connected me to the artists in my family before me (specifically my Great-Grandmother Evelyn Nowak who was a lifelong wonderful artist). And a fun fact, this realization was the basis of my AP Art final exam my senior year of high school. Reminding myself of this connection inspires me when I naturally have artistic moments and thoughts of  “what am I doing?”

 Polish Folk Art (below)

Polish

Since graduating grad school in 2021, I have been focused on (ie. obsessing) over making my art full-time. While I have loved my career in museums and nonprofits, I did find myself incessantly daydreaming, writing down a myriad of ideas throughout the day in my handy art notebook I take with me everywhere, and counting down the seconds to go home and create art and execute my ideas. I laugh to myself when I think about when I lived in Memphis, and I would get to work early so I could leave early to go work on my art and have commission meetings. I’ve always known this is what I want to do, and it feels like kismet that I am now (I still pinch myself every day).

And just for fun, one last little anecdote that you didn’t ask for: 

This morning when I was updating my website with my new logos for Sofia Darras Studio, replacing the “old” signature logo with the new icon and text logos– my brain went right to another distinct memory from my childhood. When I was 8-year-old, my mom let me redesign my childhood bedroom (of course, I made it Paris themed as I was just introduced to French art at the Art Institute of Chicago and became obsessed). I remember stripping my colorful childhood wallpaper off the walls and thinking about how it was going to be replaced with the black-and-white French Toile wallpaper we picked out (paired with light pink paint) (a combination that felt iconic to me at the time). I remember pausing, looking around at the wallpaper half-peeled off, and feeling extremely bittersweet about growing up (goodness, I know, such a dramatic child). And this morning, when updating my logo on my website, I felt a similar bittersweet feeling (I’m still dramatic). Though in both instances, I was (and am) so excited for what I am creating and what’s to come. 

The Three Inspirations for the Sofia Darras Studio Icon…

When creating the Icon for my logo, I wanted something that reflected where my pattern-design began (mandalas, floral elements, and geometric elements in my old sketchbooks), where I am now, and where I want to take my brand. I designed the SD Icon to nod to the folk style of my Polish heritage, that I believe I inherited somewhere along the way for my own art practice. The SD Icon is also inspired by a convex mirror that I found at an antique store in St. Germain, Paris earlier this year, a kind of ode to the French culture that I’ve always loved. So, 1. My Old Sketch books 2. Polish Folk Art. 3. French Antique Convex Mirror. Those three things altogether inspired the SD Icon Logo. I can’t wait to have the SD Icon tags in hand to add to all of my textile products.

SD Icon & Its Three Inspirations (below)

And now…

Creating. Building. Creating. Building…. On repeat! 

Recently, I’ve also been focusing on my love for Art History. This has continued to inspire me everyday. The past four years in particular, I’ve been in a close-one-book-open-another-book endless cycle. And while I love various genres, when I read an artist's memoir or (almost any) art history, I find myself “locked in” and inspired across all different parts of my life. I am currently reading “The Life and Death of Andy Warhol” by Victor Bockris (so good– almost done!) and “Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World” by Victoria Finlay. If art history isn’t your thing, please let me know your book recs. And if it is your thing, please!! let me know your book recs. 

It is a tale as old as time that building a business from the ground up is a lot of work. But two months into it, I am finding myself more excited to work than ever. As I navigate building up Sofia Darras Studio, I am eternally grateful to my friends and family who graciously encourage me to share my art, always listen to my rambling of ideas and plans (especially Alex– thank you), and share their thoughts, feedback, and perspectives that help me take the next best steps forward for myself, my art, and my brand.  I seriously could not do it without my people (and my planner).

Outside of the Studio

At the end of AAT Blogs, I typically do a little life update outside of my art. "Outside the Studio” is what I call any TikTok I post that is not brand/art related– just things for fun, just life (outfits, trips, whatever), so I am now bringing that to the blog. I still can’t believe I have a TikTok (I’m way behind, I know), but connecting with new clients and brands over it has really been amazing and encouraging. Outside of figuring out TikTok (wow, I sound 100 years old)... I am reading, writing, walking and running Sunny around town, hanging out with friends, trying new fall recipes at home, in the middle of a yoga marathon (I made this up just for fun), excited for our annual family mountain trip, planning our next trip abroad, possibly an upcoming artist’s retreat, and getting excited to host my family for Thanksgiving again & everything else that involves the Holidays.

Coming Soon:

Artists, Art, & Things Fall Guides

SD Studio Icon Collection

Day 1 of Sofia Darras Studio!!!!!!!!

Until next time! And as always, please inquire with any questions at sofiadarras.com.

With love, 

Sofia