I’m deb schlier. I’m an artist and dream weaver. I tell stories with my art about inner, personal dreams and desires. And, my imagery goes far beyond the ordinary fashions of average, everyday channels.
I’m building a small, but fierce, artisanal design shop and independent fashion house that’s passionate about creating limited edition and one of a kind artistic fashion. I want to rock the world and boldly defy the ordinary. How? By reflecting the creative identity of avid art and fashion lovers just like you.
I design wearable and functional art for women in love with timeless artistic fashions. Each piece is a work of art as much as it is a stylish garment or accessory.
My background in Studio Fine Arts, Museum Management, and Computer Technology connects a modern fashion sense with creative intellect. Above all, it makes my fashion art fully expressive, unique, and emotional. There’s a beauty and character that commonly defines every woman. Most importantly, it illustrates women’s life-long path of personal transformation and style.
My designs let you create your own refined elegance and personal style so that you can be, above all, remarkably YOU.
You’ve, no doubt, found me because you’re an art and culture lover. And, like me, you crave culture like art, fashion, dining, and literature among others. And, you suffocate without compelling and fascinating intellectual stimuli.
I design clothing and accessories from high quality, eco-friendly materials that are unique and custom crafted. This means you receive distinctive and original fashions. And, they’re nearly one-of-a-kind items as I create new designs that aren’t mass distributed or produced.
The diversity of my work mirrors a varied career path. Through many phases, it eventually led me to work with fashion and textiles.
In early years, I won a number of national and geographic awards and prizes. I also earned a Masters in Fine Art which focused on printmaking with minors in painting, and sculpture. Eventually, I worked as an art museum curator who was fascinated with the budding new age of personal computers.
Later, I taught myself to program and took an introductory course at a small technical school. That gave me the background to eventually settle into a career as an IT specialist for Fortune 500 companies. Being exposed to emerging technologies gave me an opportunity to cultivate digital skills.
And most notably, it allowed me to combine a love for art with technology. Armed with these two skills, I started working with machine embroidery. During that time, I also invented a new way to develop digital imagery which is incorporated into my textile designs.
As cultured women with a variety of interests, we appreciate experiences and things that dazzle our senses and captivate our affections. But, practicality is still highly important in our everyday lives.
I want my creative energy in things people want to use. I want my art to be more functional and not just something to look at or admire on a wall. So, what better place to showcase art than on the artist’s muse? With all their charms, feminine nature, and layers of complexity, women are truly that.
I design fashions that reflect and accentuate your beauty while complementing your personal style. Pattern placement creates the ability to enhance your best assets. It stylishly minimizes areas you’d rather keep a little more mysterious. Placing lines, shapes, and motifs in specific places slenderizes a profile. At the same time, it maximizes your personal assets.
I want to create fashions that effortlessly make you feel like a million bucks. To immediately amplify your inherent beauty and elevate your true nature as a work of art.
To get more beauty out into the world, I create wearable and functional art pieces. Why? Because clothing you in beautiful works of art also nourishes positive self image for ALL women, of all ages, all around the world.
Being an artist is in my DNA. My grandmother taught me to sew as a little girl, before I even started school. My mother was obsessed with clothes. She tried to create the perfect outfit for every event in her life. And, I seem to have inherited that trait as well.
Even more, I’m an entrepreneur. Because it’s both in my blood, as an artist, and a part of my family history. My parents were small business owners. And, as a self-starter myself, I’ve always been an artist striving to get my work “out there.” Even during my earliest days. I’m compelled to create beauty and think in creative ways. It’s just part of my life’s algorithm. How do you put a square peg in a round hole? You don’t “use a bigger hammer” as a dear friend humorously says, you find a creative solution.
As a young girl growing up in Texas, I made almost all of my own clothes. That continued through most of my adult years until I didn’t have time for it while working as an IT specialist.
When I retired, I originally planned to get back to sewing. But, I discovered machine embroidery. That opened a whole new world for me. This innovative technique helped me invent a new process to develop imagery. I combined illusionistic embroidery, photography, graphics and digital painting to create textile designs. It’s sort of like a virtual mixed media technique that has even greater possibilities. the next thing I knew, I was designing my own textiles and working up a dozen boutique clothing and accessory lines.
The most compelling part about discovering that I could design and print my own fabrics was that I could still create art, to visually express myself. I could make purposeful and functional pieces through my own fashion line. I could also manipulate the placement, size, and scope of the designs for each garment type so that the fabric design could be used to enhance or minimize and create slimming illusions.
With my own brand, I had an opportunity to combine textile designs with classic cuts and staple wardrobe garments beyond what was found in general shopping venues. At the same time I could push the fashion envelope with cutting edge styles with design alone. I eventually caught the eye of the Oxford Fashion Studio. I receive annual invitations to participate in their Fashion Week events in major fashion centers both her and abroad. I was also invited by an exclusive private label fashion manufacturer to join their curated group of designers. They also produce many of our pieces.
Starting my own line was something I felt so necessary. Because, here’s a secret. I’m completely indifferent to much of what I see out there, in the way of fashion. You know how there are just certain things that make you yawn? Maybe you’re a book or movie connoisseur. And you get so underwhelmed that you doze off with the same story lines being produced over and over. Well, for me, I am underwhelmed by uninspired, tired fashion. In fact, “tired” clothing designs literally make me yawn. So many of the fashions we see today have such ordinary textile patterns. They’re boring, trite, and even garish and offend the senses. They’re certainly over-used and repetitive.
I watched years of pattern designs trend in and out, with the same old lifeless imagery during just about every decade. I wanted to disrupt the big-box fashion landscape. And my bespoke designs were a perfect start. I wanted to wake up sleeping fashion lovers. So they could take a big, awakening stretch into clothing and accessories that revive and energize their creativity. Not to mention their closets with eye-opening design.
I want my work to be refined and classic while augmenting a woman’s wardrobe. It should be the final touch to an outfit or the signature piece needed to complete her style. Each piece is a work of art as much as it is a fashionable garment, while still being considered comfortable and functional. Garments and accessories are individually made and produced in limited edition, making yours incredibly unique.
I want every woman to feel extraordinary when they wear my clothes and accessories. They’re made well with quality materials. They’re thoughtfully designed so pattern placement emphasizes beauty while stylishly creating a little mystery.
And, if you’re anything like me, sure, you want to look great, but even more so, you want to dress to inspire. That’s why all of my works are ethically produced with eco-friendly processes and recycled materials, where possible.
I’m someone who loves to see beautiful, unique, classic fashion. I want it to speak to discerning tastes and appeal to eclectic minds. I know that charismatic fashions exist, because I create work that embodies these qualities—clothing and accessories with original and defined character.
I believe life is a blank canvas and you can choose to be your own masterpiece, framed in elegant, comfortable fashions that are works of art in their own right. That’s why I do what I do.
…with lots of imagination, dreams, and 
passion for what we do…
I suspect you’re wondering how it all started.
As a kid I was always drawing and entertaining myself with creative endeavors. Then my grandmother taught me to sew before I ever even started school. So, armed with a needle and thread and some of her scraps, I started making all my own doll clothes and she would inspect them telling me how to make them better. At age 12, I designed and sewed my very first full outfit on her sewing machine. (After much begging, of course!) From that point on, I started creating all my own clothes until many, many years later when I no longer had time after setting my museum career aside to become a computer specialist. 
Several years ago I took up machine embroidery and fell in love with it completely. Although shopping had always been one of my favorite past times, I was really sick of seeing all the same old things year after year. It seemed that every decade had just kept recycling the same old tired designs and I personally didn’t like most of the textile patterns they’ve been pushing for years now. Not to mention how uninspired everything in the same old stores had become, or how limited their sizing was. I just kept thinking, “Who even likes this stuff?” Everything was either too teen, too frumpy, too tight, or just SO not me and it seemed manufacturers where really off with their proportions! Where’s all the age-appropriate styles that aren’t just plain boring or too trendy to last more than a season or two?
Because I had been learning to de
sign and program my own embroidery designs, I was already starting to see huge possibilities with creating digital art. So I began combining my photographed embroidery works with other graphics and digital painting – deconstructing and reconstructing bits and pieces to create a whole new look. I soon discovered how they could be printed on fabric to become my own textile designs. I had also started reworking several things in my closet as “upcycle” projects like I had done years ago while in college. These were basically several garments that were deconstructed, then put back together in a new way.
One experiment led to another and before I knew it, I had a whole line of fresh, new fashions that were unlike anything sold in stores. And all my friends raved at how gorgeous they were. That’s when I began my quest to become a fashion and textile designer of original wearable art. I also found that simple, easy care cuts that are properly proportioned for real women were also highly desired by other women like me. Women who are career professionals, wives, and mothers. Women who want to look sharp and stylish and feel classy…but are frustrated with boring retail fashions, sizing issues, or just don’t have that much time for shopping! 
It became my mission to create the most beautiful, yet timeless, artisanal clothing that make women look and feel their best. To transform them into a gorgeous work of art by choosing the right types of garments that have true versatility. With original, designer quality fabrics, clothing, and accessories that go effortlessly from day to night, and work endlessly to combine and refresh dozens of items already in your own closet. Now, that’s what I call the power of shopping.
I want you to be excited about shopping all over again, too! To see infinite possibilities with a single piece of wearable art from my portfolio. It doesn’t matter if it’s a wear-around-the-clock top, a scarf, or a top-notch functional handbag. As long as it inspires your own creativity to style new outfits with what you already own, to make you feel like a priceless work of art every time you walk out the door, or to boost your confidence with something fabulous and fresh and original, I’ve fulfilled my mission, one precious woman at a time.
So, what’s your story? I’d love to know more about YOU! What types of items, colors, or designs are you looking for that will solve your outfit frustrations? I truly want your opinion.
How can I spread a little magic your way? ❤️
| 2003-2013 | EAN API Documentation, authored, designed and managed EAN API Documentation Center. Published by the Expedia Affiliate Network, Bellevue, WA |
| 1995-98 | Collection Highlights, authored and curated various topics and artworks from the permanent collections featured in educational essay series. Published by the Springfield Art Museum, MO |
| 1997 | Selections from the Gertrude Vanderveer Spratlen Collection, authored and curated exhibition catalogue published by the Springfield Art Museum, MO |
| 1996 | Contemporary Masterworks in Clay from the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, authored and curated exhibition catalogue published by the Springfield Art Museum, MO |
| 1996 | Chromatic Abstractions: Paintings & Drawings by Ida Kohlmeyer, authored and curated exhibition catalogue published by the Springfield Art Museum, MO |
| 1995 | The Advent of American Modernism, authored and curated exhibition catalogue brochure published by the Jacque Vaughn Charitable Trust Collection, Wichita Falls, TX |
| 1993 | Roots of American Modernism, authored and curated exhibition catalogue brochure published by the Jacque Vaughn Charitable Trust Collection and a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts, Wichita Falls Museum & Art Center, Wichita Falls, TX |
| 1989 | Artists: A Kansas Collection, Featured as participating artist in juried collection with publication of 44 Kansas artists. Published by the Kansas Arts Commission, Topeka, KS |
| 1987 | Mikrokosmos, 1st Place Cover Prize, Literary & Arts Publication of Wichita State University, Wichita, KS |
| international | 1986 | Small Works National Printmaking Invitational Exhibition The Print Club Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |
| national | 1987 | Cimarron National Works on Paper Gardiner Art Gallery Bartlett Center for the Arts Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma | |
| 21st Bradley National Print and Drawing Exhibition Hartmann Gallery Bradley University Peoria, Illinois | |||
| 17th National Works on Paper Minot State College Minot, North Dakota | |||
| National Postcard Art Exhibition School of Art University of Denver Denver, Colorado | |||
| 25th National Juried Print Exhibition Brainard Art Gallery Potsdam College Potsdam, New York | Purchase Prize | ||
| 1989 | A Kansas Collection Reuben Saunders Gallery Wichita, Kansas | Featured Artist | |
| 1988 | Kansas 7 Juried Kansas Arts Commission Mulvane Art Center Topeka, Kansas | ||
| regional | 1987 | 12th Annual Juried Art Exhibition Carnegie Center for the Arts Dodge City, Kansas | Two Honorable Mentions |
| 37th Annual Spiva Competitive Spiva Art Center Joplin, Missouri | Honorable Mention | ||
| Smokey Hill Art Exhibition Hayes Art Center Gallery Hayes, Kansas | |||
| Wichita River Festival Regional Competitive Wichita Festival Inc. Wichita State Bank Wichita, Kansas | Finalist | ||
| A Kansas Collection Kansas Arts Commission Mulvane Art Center Topeka, Kansas | |||
| Eighth Annual Jurored Show Salina Art Canter Salina, Kansas | |||
| Art Inc. Great Bend Public Library Great Bend, Kansas | Cash Award | ||
| Annual Prairie Art Exhibition Sterling College Art Center Sterling, Kansas | Cash Award | ||
| 1985 | Kansas Black & White Phoenix Art Institute Wichita, Kansas | Cash Award | |
| 1980 | WomanArt III Century II Civic Canter Wichita, Kansas | Honorable Mention | |
| Valentine Competition Wichita Art Museum Wichita, Kansas |
| invitational exhibitions | 1987 | WSU Faculty Exhibition Ulrich Museum of Art Wichita, Kansas | |
| Clayton Staples Scholarship Recipients Clayton Staples Gallery Wichita State University Wichita, Kansas | |||
| 1986 | Printworks Phillips University Enid, 0klahoma | ||
| 1985 | Handmade Paper Hayes Art Center Hayes, Kansas | ||
| 1984 | 6th Annual Invitational Reuben Saunders Gallery Wichita, Kansas | ||
| 1980 | Group Painting Exhibition Allen County Community College Iola, Kansas | ||
| 1977 | American Printmakers Touring Exhibition Great Britain | ||
| one/two man shows | 1988 | M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition Clayton Staples Gallery Wichita State University Wichita, Kansas | One Man Show |
| 1985 | Two Man Show Ballpark Gallery Wichita, Kansas | ||
| 1982 | B.F.A. Exhibition Reuben Saunders Gallery Wichita, Kansas | One Man Show | |
| 1981 | Two Man Show Wichita Art Museum Wichita, Kansas | ||
| Two Man Show Wichita Public Library Wichita, Kansas | Feature Artist | ||
| 1979 | Two Man Show Art Works Gallery Wichita, Kansas |
| springfield art museum | Collection Highlights: Initiated and developed the monthly series of small exhibitions with published educational handout spotlighting a specific work from the collections. Watercolor USA 1996, 1997, 1998: Annual national competitive exhibition initiated in 1962. A Woman’s Touch: Exhibition from the permanent collections featuring purchase awards by women artists of the past twenty-five Watercolor USA exhibits. American Art in the 19th Century: Permanent collection works indicating and identifying the evolution of American art during this period. Permanent installation with rotating selections on a regular basis. Chromatic Abstractions: Paintings & Sculpture by Ida Kohlmeyer: Curated/organized the exhibition; authored/produced catalogue for this contemporary American sculptor before her recent death. Contemporary Masterworks in Clay from the Permanent Collection of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts: Curated/organized the exhibition; authored/produced catalogue. The exhibition was an exchange project between both museums. MOAK 4 State Regional Exhibition 1996: 2nd biennial competitive exhibition. Acquisitions 1971 to 1996: Spotlighting recent acquisitions with additional examples. The Midwest Regionalists: The work of Benton, Curry, and Wood from the Permanent Collections. Anders Zorn: Portraits: Etchings by this turn of the century Swedish immigrant from the Permanent Collections. Old Master Prints from the Permanent Collection: 17th Century Dutch and German prints with extensive texts on history and artists’ biographies. Principles of Art from the Permanent Collection: A Lesson in Art Appreciation. Selections demonstrating the various formal principles of art with extensive teaching texts. Peter Holbrook: Paintings Watercolor NOW! 1997 Watercolor U.S.A. Honor Society Biennial Exhibition In Celebration of African American Artists from the Permanent Collection Heroines from the Permanent Collection History, Heritage & the Homeland: Works from the Permanent Collection focusing on local Springfield, Missouri, and regional history. Selections from the Gertrude Vanderveer Spratlen Collection: European Masters, 19th Century America, Treasures from the Early Southwest and Contemporary America. Four exhibits of works covering major historical categories from the collection. Shades of Society: Early 20th Century Paintings from the Permanent Collection. Outlines the major American movements in art from the first half of the century with emphasis on lifestyle imagery. Color Fields & Quiet Visions: Abstract paintings, prints, and drawings from the Permanent Collection by abstract and color field artists of the late 20th century. |
| wichita falls museum & art center | Made from Stone: 150 Years of American Lithography: Prints from the Permanent Collection describing the history of lithography in American art including the first lithograph made in America to contemporary American lithographs. Roots of American Modernism: Prints from 1900-1950: from the Jacque Vaughn Charitable Trust Collection of the WFMAC Permanent Collection. The first exhibit of acquisitions for the Jacque Vaughn Charitable Trust Collection describing the history, artists and styles from the early part of the 20th century which contributed to the evolution of American Modernism prior to Abstract Expressionism. Prepared for travel. Texas Select: Invitational Exhibition of Texas Artists: purchased for the Jacque Vaughn Charitable Trust Collection. Collaborated with Guest Curator, Richard Ash, Chairman of Art, Midwestern University, Wichita Falls, TX. Young at Art: The Caldecott Collection of Children’s Book Illustrations: From the Permanent Collection, venue focused on illustrations by Caldecott Award winning children’s book illustrators. Exhibit describes the history of the Caldecott Award and the development of reading skills through picture books. Prepared for travel. Portrait of a Nation: Presidents of the United States 1789-1909: Special print collection purchased for the Permanent Collection which includes portraits of each president from George Washington to Theodore Roosevelt. Other works describe the founding of the nation with scenes of George Washington. Venue focuses on the historical content of the life, contributions and social or political atmosphere of each president while in office. Prepared for travel. Our Town: Exhibition of historical photographs from the Permanent Collections of the cultural and social development of the area from 1870 to 1940. Awarded a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts to organize the project for the community. The Advent of American Modernism: Abstract Expressionism & the Atelier 17 School of Printmaking. Prints from the Jacque Vaughn Charitable Trust Collection of the WFMAC Permanent Collection. The 2nd Biennial Exhibition from the Jacque Vaughn Charitable Trust which describes the second in a series of historical developments in American art. Venue focused on the period of Abstract Expressionism and the New York School with a special emphasis on Stanley William Hayter’s Atelier 17 school of printmaking as a major influence on experimentation in art. Organized with special events. Double exhibition also highlights the WFMAC Permanent Collection with work in painting, drawing, sculpture, and prints on the same subject. The exhibition included a symposium following the opening weekend of the exhibition in September 1995. Activities include lecture by invited guest: Joann Moser, Chief Curator of Graphic Arts, The National Gallery of American Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. The symposium also included a Print Fair with 4 national dealers of fine art and a round table panel discussion open to the public on art, collecting, and open topics with Ms. Moser and 4 guest dealers. The symposium was formatted to highlight the JVCT and the Permanent Collection with encouragement for educational and public participation in art. Grant sponsorship was attained and video production of the symposium was aired on local PBS. The Hudson River Portfolio: Over a fifteen year period the museum had been in the process of assembling the 1820 portfolio of prints by William Guy Wall and his views along the Hudson River. I located the last three prints and completed this important portfolio. Program and research was developed for a catalogue to be published on the history and importance of this first American school of art and highlighting William Guy Wall’s portfolio of 20 aquatints and engravings. The exhibition is expected to travel nationally. |
| 1987 | George Sewallis Prize for Excellence, Graduate Scholarship, Wichita State University |
| 1987 | June M. Lair Endowment for the Arts Scholarship, WSU |
| 1986-1987 | Clayton Staples Graduate Scholarship, WSU |
| 1981-1982 | Clayton Staples Painting Award, Scholarship, WSU |
| 1980 | Undergraduate Assistantship Award, WSU |
| 1978-1981 | Miller Art Scholarship, WSU |
| 1980 | Honors Scholar Award, WSU |
| 1976-1977 | Wichita Falls Art Association Scholarship, Midwestern University |
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