Mark and Bethany, the married couple behind Donahue Sorrell Designs are bringing their functional and affordable art to everyone. Bethany is the artist that creates these limited edition prints and Mark handles all the business aspects including website development. Together they work as a team to create products from Bethany's original hand-drawn designs that are unique, colorful, and make great gifts.
What inspired you to start this business?
I studied fashion textile design at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia. After I graduated I wanted to start selling my art in galleries but there were only high-end art galleries. There were a lot of art schools in downtown Philly, so Mark and I decided to open one of the first local artist galleries in Philadelphia. It was called Grass Gallery & Boutique and our slogan, thanks to Mark was, “helping local artists grow”. We had the gallery for 3 1/2 years but ended up closing it because it was a hard business. This was before social media so it was difficult to get the word out and gain traction. During that time and after I worked in hospitality while doing textile work on the side. Over time my designs transitioned into fabrics and wallpapers for larger companies and I decided I wanted to make smaller and more functional pieces for people, but still, do limited edition print runs that cannot be bought at a big box store. That’s when we decided to do my print designs in smaller runs and put them on products that would be accessible to everyone.
What types of products are you putting your prints on?
When we were in Philadelphia I started putting my textile prints on some flasks. We did a couple of craft shows and did really well. We found it was something people liked and it was affordable. We added pocket mirrors and coasters to the product list and are thinking of other products we can do that aren’t saturated in the market. I call it functional art that you can carry with you. I want people to have something that is not the same as everyone else and at an affordable price point.
What brought you to St. Augustine?
We sold our house in Philly, we knew we wanted to move but we didn’t know where. We got this great job traveling the country for a t-shirt company. We became gypsies for two years and traveled cross-country twice. We visited a lot of places and St. Augustine was the one place that stuck with us. Initially, we thought the town was really cool, so we came back to make sure it wasn’t one of those awesome weekends you can’t recreate and when we visited the second time, we realized it was a special place to be and wanted to make it our home, that was 2 1/2 years ago.
What’s your medium for your textile designs?
I mainly start with pencil and then go into markers and then add color. The designs evolve as I do them. For example, I’ll draw an oval disc pattern which will become surfboards or lily pads.
What inspires your designs?
I find inspiration everywhere! Some of my prints are inspired by crochet work I used to do when I made scarves for homeless people and would crochet patterns using different colors, these patterns inspired some of my textile designs. I also love going to casinos, the colors and ornate details, especially in the carpets, inspire something new for me. I also collage multiple drawings together to create a pattern with sections that work with each other. Mixing textiles that work together and in the same hue can create a whole new design as well.
Is there any type of art that inspires you?
Yes definitely! I love going to old libraries and looking at botanical art from the 1700-1800s. I collect them and sometimes I’ll find them at thrift stores.
Who does the printing?
We do everything from soup to nuts here. We print the textile designs on vinyl and spray it with a clear coat on all the products. They are all water resistant.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not drawing?
We go out a lot, we love checking out different restaurants and bars. We try to go out once a week for dinner. There are so many different places so we are trying a new place each time. We like Old City House or Michaels for a special occasion. We love the Prince of Wales, the owner is one of the first people we met and she is just fantastic. The Fish and Chips are the best and Marc being from Liverpool loves it.
What are your main goals for the business?
This is a wedding town and we’d like to focus on favors for bridal parties, showers, and weddings. We also want to get into some of the local shops and do wholesale.
My plan is to start adding more manly designs as well; golf, boating, fishing.
What local stores will your functional art be in?
We just got picked up by Simple Gestures and we are in negotiations with a few other stores, downtown. Mark is working on our website now and it will have a store as well. We’d also like to do the Tuesday night market at the amphitheater eventually.
For now we do have an Etsy Shop
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