Ground Floor: Art and fabric collide at Delve MIY

Is it an art studio or a fabric store?

Delve MIY, Stephanie Brandenburg's new business venture, is a little of both.

Delve ('MIY” stands for 'make it yourself”) is an interactive art studio and showroom featuring home decor and apparel made with fabrics from Frond Design Studios, Brandenburg's other business.

The fabrics themselves are works of art, literally.

According to Brandenburg, Frond Design Studios is one of few companies that design fabric using hand-generated art. In a unique process, Brandenburg and the other artists of Frond Design Studios first create designs on canvas using acrylic paint, ink, watercolor and other media. The artwork is then scanned using a fine arts scanner and screen printed onto fabric. The printed fabrics are virtually identical to the paintings from which they were born.

Brandenburg said she founded Delve MIY to teach people how to use the unconventional fabrics of Frond Design Studios.

'We found with our fabrics being so different that we needed a way to showcase them,” she said. 'We wanted to show quilt shop merchants how to merchandise the fabrics. We wanted to help customers learn how to use the fabrics.”

Brandenburg didn't set out to become an artist and fabric designer. Instead, the Cedar Rapids native went off to college to study history with plans to attend law school. But when her father became ill, she starting working at her mother's quilt shop in the Amanas. She ended up working there for 20 years.

'I fell in love with it and found I had a knack for the merchandising side of the business,” she said.

As she pursued a history degree, Brandenburg became focused on art history and the history of fabric. She began painting fabric collections for her mother's shop.

'The way people responded to the work was the clincher that really sucked me in,” she said.

Brandenburg eventually went to work as the design and marketing director for a Montreal-based fabric company, where she developed original art concepts for use in textiles. She left that company when it changed its focus to licensed works and founded Frond Design Studios in 2012. Frond fabrics are now sold throughout the world.

Delve MIY, which opened on May 31 in the Cherry Building, is the retail side of Brandenburg's business. At Delve, customers can watch the artists at work, take classes, and buy fabric, patterns and pre-cut kits to make quilts and other projects. Those who don't want to do it themselves can purchase finished goods.

Brandenburg said she hopes to create a legacy with her art-turned-fabric.

'It's a special mission that we're on,” she said. 'When I look at what we're doing, these quilts will be around long after we're gone.”

' Know a company or manager who has been in business for less than a year that would be ideal for 'Ground Floor”? Contact Francie Williamson at francie.williamson@thegazette.com

At a Glance

Owner: Stephanie Brandenburg

Business: Delve MIY

Address: 329 10th Ave. SE, Suite 122, Cedar Rapids

Telephone: (319) 389-7312

Website: www.delvemiy.com