Ndesign: Andra Eggleston, Electra Eggleston

The art of color runs generations deep for textile designer Andra Eggleston, who debuted her first original paintings and prints this fall. More than a decade after launch- ing her Electra Eggleston textile line — originally inspired by a collaboration with her photographer father, William Eggleston — Andra hung her solo show at Reed Smythe. For the month of October, limited-edition prints of Andra’s vibrant, whimsical botanicals hung among the shop’s colorful inventory of Electra Eggleston textiles and William Eggleston photography books.

The past three years of painting have been, in Andra’s words, “a long, deep journey into flowers.” She started with photographs, working in gouache to capture the likeness of specific plants from California, Costa Rica and her native Tennessee. (Andra was born in Nashville and grew up in Memphis.) Then, she wandered from realistic representations to more dreamlike creations.

Andra’s most recent work, “Starburst,” is a fanciful study of florals in a palette of blues and, in her words, “a long, winding journey into abstraction and invention.”

That journey started over a half-century ago, when Andra was born to a father on the rise in the art world and a mother who refused his suggestion to name their baby Electra.

In 1976, William mounted a solo photography show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, developing a reputation as the father of color photography. Later, William shared with his daughter a hoard of his own color-and pattern-rich drawings, which she interpreted into repeating fields appropriate for fabric and wallpaper. In 2014, Andra moved from New York to Nashville and launched Electra Eggleston.

Andra’s textiles and her complex family story have been featured in national media, including Architectural Digest, Vogue, Town & Country and CBS News Sunday Morning. Her table linens, lampshades and throw pillows weave their way through the Germantown Inn and Noelle Hotel in Nashville, among other chic spaces and national showrooms.

Life as the child of a famously eccentric artist was not without complexity. “Growing up in his shadow took a toll on me,” Andra says. “It took me a really long time to listen to my instincts — and what- ever I needed in terms of self-confidence. To forge ahead was a much longer learning curve than I ever expected.”

The oversized flowers and tangles of foliage in Andra’s paintings subtly illustrate the story of her creative family life. The large-scale bloom of her Rosa Rose series, for example, draws from a floral shawl that belonged to a beloved grandmother.

By the time the flowers became more experimental, Andra carried a selection of works to The Little Garden Club of Memphis, where she spoke about growing up with her father.

“I was born into an artistic legacy that I now fully understand,” Andra told the group. “I love that part of me and honor that part of myself.”

That visit became a vital step along the artist’s path. It was the first time she had shown those works, and the audience bought many of them immediately. “It was such an encouraging moment,” Andra remembers. In fact, it was so encouraging that Andra named her LGC series of floral paintings after The Little Garden Club of Memphis. Now, in a full-circle moment, an LGC- inspired fabric pattern is in the works — an Electra Eggleston textile influenced by original Andra Eggleston artwork.

Andra Eggleston’s debut collection of prints — in limited editions of six signed and numbered archival-quality giclée prints — is exclusively available through Reed Smythe.