Solon artist’s dresses start with a painting

Each of Debra Sutherland's dresses starts with a painting.

'A painting may have 30 layers to it before I think it is finished to put in on of my galleries,” says the Solon-based artist.

So she photographs her paintings in stages.

'I like to look at it and see how its coming along with a different eye, but I also see each stage of my painting as a potential design for a fabric so quite often you might see a painting of mine that became three or four different fabric patterns that I created,” Sutherland said.

Once she has the fabric, Sutherland decides which section of the painting becomes a specific part of the dress. Each dress is handmade and one of a kind, much like the painting from which the fabric is derived.

'Each of these dresses I almost look at like a painting because I created each one as a one of a kind,” says Sutherland, who designs under the name Debra Delores Designs. 'When I put one of these on a body it is almost like I am putting a painting on the figure.”

Sutherland's path to fashion design was launched by a move in 2007 from southern California to Solon.

On the West Coast, Sutherland represented artists and sold their work.

'As time passed, I started to feel my own desire to paint again,” she says.

She started creating works for interior designers for hotels, model homes and commercial sites. She also taught watercolors and pastels.

Then she moved to the Midwest.

'Moving out to Solon, Iowa, I was in a position to reinvent myself,” she says.

Still, she wasn't sure how.

'How can I start over in a world where I am not even sure I will fit in Iowa?” she asked herself. 'I don't paint cornfields, I don't paint animals.”

Instead of turning to the earth for inspiration, she looked to architecture, mythology, ancient ruins, jewelry and metals.

Her 'scientific curiosity” led her to investige detail at a level she couldn't with her brush.

'I was trying to get a different perspective on my paintings, so I started manipulating my paintings with (Adobe) Photoshop, that opened up an entirely new world for me, I had no idea what digital design could do to my designs.”

Once her art had been transformed digitally, the next step was to print her works on fabrics.

She started with silk scarves and expanded into home decor such as pillows and wall hangings upholstery.

In 2013, she saw an article about a University of Iowa competition themed around the UI Art Museum's Jackson Pollock painting 'The Mural.” Sutherland had spent an afternoon immersed in the painting on a quiet afternoon at the Figge, where the painting resided for a time following the Flood of 2008 in Iowa City.

'I love that painting, it never left my thoughts, it was a nice inspiration point,” she says.

She submitted a design and won.

'Then I was pushed to take more designs and create a collection of clothing to date - full length dresses, halter dresses, one shoulder dresses and halter tops and crops tops - designs that lend themselves toward the fabric.”

Sutherland's designs are based on her understanding of the human figure, how fabric drapes and sewing, a skill she learned as a child.

'Every girl I've ever known - friend, mother, sister - fashion is something we all love. So for me to step into the fashion arena of being an artist was quite easy, it's just another medium for me.”

She loves the versatility of dresses.

'The way they fit each body is magical,” she says.

Her designs are simple and wearable. Everything is hand washable, foldable and does not need special care.

'As a woman who likes to wear great clothes I was thinking ... what I would like, what I would wear, what I would like to see on a rack at a boutique.”

Some of her designs are dresses that can be worn three or four ways. Retail prices range from $75 to $250 and includes scarves and tops as well as long and short dresses.

She launched her line during Fashion Weekendin May in downtown Iowa City. The Pollock-inspired dress was on display at The Chait Galleries, 218 E. Washington St., as part of the University of Iowa Museum of Art Wearable Art Tour. Sutherlands paintings still can be found at the gallery.

Her dresses now are sold at Dulcinea, 2 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, and on Etsy.

'I loved Debra's Jackson Pollock-inspired dress,” says Sandy Navalesi, owner of Dulcinea. 'I love supporting local artists when it's a good fit with Dulcinea. Shoppers always love when they have an opportunity to purchase from local designers.”

Sutherland is interested in licensing her fabric designs for home decor, linens or menswear. One painting can become 100 different designs.

'I like fact that something can become a dress or a pillow or a purse,” she says. 'I have such freedom now to let go of what I create and when I see the expansion of what something can be come, its fascinating, there is so much joy in seeing something become something else. To me, that's just as creative as painting.”