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Susan Hable in her art studio
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Hable’s studio
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Examples of Hable’s sculptural works
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Hable’s work and furniture by Hable Construction
“Life is just richer when you have things that are made by somebody’s hand. Not to sound hippie, California-y or whatever, but it is. It’s good energy in your home,” says artist and designer Susan Hable.
Hable will be the featured speaker at the Rise + Shine Brunch during this year’s Visual Arts Center of Richmond Craft + Design show on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 9:30 a.m.
“I always have had friends’ art when I’ve done spaces. I think those are the ingredients that make the spaces more interesting, more lively, … your own place,” Hable says. “That is so natural for me. I think it’s important when you know the artist. We can’t always known them, but I think the layers of handcrafted imperfection — imperfection to me is perfection — where you can see the hands and the texture and all of the different elements [blending together], that to me is what makes a home.”
A multidisciplinary artist, Hable is known for her vibrant paintings, prints and collages, as well as organic sculptures and pottery. Her work is inspired by her travels — to Italy, Asia, South America and most recently Egypt — along with nature and the forms of the flowers and plants she tends in the garden of her Athens, Georgia, home and at the nearby botanical gardens. In every medium, her work is bold and colorful, textured and layered.
Hable studied graphic and fashion accessory design at Parsons School of Design in New York City, and explored mixed media and jewelry design before establishing Hable Construction — named for her grandfather’s 1970s-era Texas construction company — with her sister Katherine Hable in 1999 to create functional everyday objects that also add to the personality of a room. They started with a collection of textiles and a shop in New York’s West Village and have since expanded their studio to create furniture, fine art and textiles, all with Susan Hable’s colorful designs and hand-drawn patterns.
“We started our business with textiles, so I always feel like I’m a textile designer, but [I] am really not formally trained,” Hable says. “Actually, I’m not formally trained in a lot. I have some training in different things. But a lot of it has come because I was in the right place, the right time, and I had someone who could teach me. And I was curious.” She says that her curiosity continually inspires her to learn to work in new media.
The handcraft behind each of Hable’s pieces is central to their appeal, so the sisters make sure that their licensing partners are very much are on the same page as they are, the designer says. Their lighting collection, for example, is made by hand in a special studio in Vietnam where artisans work to match the texture of the original pottery pieces, knowing that it’s part of the aesthetic.
In her 2015 book, “A Colorful Home,” Hable, who is known for her joyous embrace of color, shares tips on decorating with colors drawn from nature. At the upcoming High Point Furniture Market later this month, she will introduce new additions to her furniture collection Hable for Hickory Chair, debut her first — and a first for Hickory Chair — line of outdoor furniture and introduce of a new lamp collection with Generation. In addition to rugs created in collaboration with Garnet Hill, Hable’s licensed artwork and wallpapers are available through Soicher Marin. Her original art and sculpture can be found at Spalding Nix Fine Art in Atlanta.
“I think there are a lot of examples of people today that say, ‘Make your home your own,’ and I love seeing that,” Hable says. “I love that it’s much more in vogue to do your own thing.”
