Voices of the Bay: Bristol’s Melinda Satterfield

Melinda Satterfield remembers the first time she saw one of the prints she designed in public. She was at the beach in Delaware and a boy was walking down the street wearing a Gap bathing suit. She was thrilled when he agreed to let her take a photo of her with him sporting the print she created. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Satterfield loves using bright colors and bold patterns in her work, which ranges from fabrics to wallpaper to fine art. After spending almost two decades living and working in Manhattan, the Connecticut native, who moved to Bristol a few years ago to be closer to help care for family members, says she revels in discovering inspiration in her beautiful new community. Learn more at MelindaSatterfield.com.

TO A DEGREE: When I finished art school, I had no idea what I wanted to do or what the options were. It’s this big myth that you go to art school and then at the end you’re supposed to be an artist. It takes people years and years to develop.

TRYING TIMES: I kind of struggled those first two years after graduating, trying odd jobs. I started taking Continuing Ed classes at RISD in textile design. My teacher said she knew someone who owned a print studio in NYC and suggested I start sending my work to have it sold to fashion companies. I started working with this studio and made enough money that I could move to New York.

NEW TOOLS: At the time, computer programs like Photoshop and Illustrator were just being introduced. I was fortunate that I had learned those programs while people in those industries were just learning. There was initially some pushback – [industry leaders] wanted everything to be done by hand and at a certain caliber, but I could produce a lot in a short amount of time, which was very helpful. Previously, with old-school textiles, an artist would spend hours and hours painting a flower all done by hand. It’s beautiful and stunning, but takes so much time. Photoshop takes 10 minutes to do a flower versus hours by hand. 

YOUNG AT HEART: I love doing bright colors and bold prints. My hand is very young. They call it “your hand” when you’re making art. People will say, “Oh, your hand is this or that.” I’m very much like a baby hand, very whimsical. The types of design you do for fashion are completely different from the types you do for home furnishing. The scale is different, the feeling is different. Usually for fashion, you don’t want anything standing out.

BOYS’ LIFE: I worked for the Gap for a while, which was probably my most challenging but most fun company job because I was a print stylist. Every design I created they basically used. I worked for the boys’ department. The girls’ department had three different designers; in boys’, there was just one: me.