Meet Amanda Novak | Fabric Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amanda Novak and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
When I’m feeling overwhelmed or discouraged with my business, I try to think of the bigger picture and how much joy my work brings my customers and in turn, how happy I am when a customer loves their purchase. As cliché as it may seem, if you can’t find any joy in what you’re doing, moving on might be a better use of your energy. Giving up really isn’t in my nature, so I usually try to find a way to get through a road block instead of being held up by it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When people find out that I have a tie dye business, I always tell them to forget what they think they know about tie dye! This isn’t the primary color, spiral design t-shirt you made at summer camp. FREE RAIN SPLY (pronounced supply) combines my love for rain and color. I’m an avid gardener and cherish rain for it’s role in sustaining life and renewing the garden. I often use the ice dyeing technique which involves using dry fiber-reactive pigment sprinkled over fabric and covered with a layer of ice. As the ice melts, the pigments used to create the final color separate out, showcasing the subtle undertones of the pigment and creating a prismatic effect that is very different from traditional dyeing methods. My preferred pattern is more organic and less structured like traditional tie dye patterns. I also love low-water immersion dyeing and indigo vat dyeing. Being a small business owner is far from easy. As the owner and maker, you’re responsible for every aspect of the business. The biggest challenge I’ve experienced is finding a way to balance all of these responsibilities while still having time to be creative. In addition to being a fabric artist, I also work full time at a medical certification board; balancing my full-time career and my creative business has had it’s ups and downs over the past two years and I’d be lying if I said I had that fully figured out! I’m excited to be moving into a studio in Colleyville, Texas which will be open by appointment only and on select weekends starting in April 2021. In summer 2021, I will start offering small group classes that explore a variety of hand dyeing techniques.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
On Saturday mornings, we would grab coffee and breakfast at GEORGE coffee in Coppell and then stroll through the Coppell Farmers Market (I happen to chair the volunteer committee that runs the market). Before we leave Coppell, we would check out the current finds at Tattered Style, also in Old Town Coppell. Then we would head to Fort Worth for more shopping at some of my favorites: Kendall Davis Clay, Gifted, Centre, and Grow plant shop’s new brick & mortar. For an afternoon snack we would either hit up Stir Crazy Baked Goods or Melt Ice Cream on Magnolia Avenue. On Sunday, we would visit the Japanese garden at the Fort Worth Botanic garden. We’d grab lunch at Rodeo Goat then we would pick one of the amazing art museums to browse for inspiration: The Kimball, the Modern, or the Amon Carter. Later in the week, if we’re feeling up for a new tattoo (which is a default state of mind for me), I’d visit Daniel Gerbis at Panther City Tattoos.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband, Rick, has been an integral part of my growing business from the very beginning. He asked me to dye something for him and the rest is history, as they say! He makes post office runs, carries bags of ice, cleans dye containers, launders dyed items, and listens to me prattle on and on about my ideas, goals, and worries.

Website: www.freerainsply.etsy.com

Instagram: @freerainsply

Image Credits
Photography: Amanda Novak Model: Jayci Molnar