Linda May

"I love color you can feel."

Linda May is known for exuberant textile jewelry, all meticulously hand sewn in her Philadelphia studio. Her bold, tactile pieces combine unexpected colors, patterns, and textures. As an anthropologist in India, May saw bright colors combined in ways that surprised her. To quote legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, "Hot pink is the navy blue of India." This use of vibrant color continues to inspire her.

With needle and thread, Linda May stitches each tiny glass bead onto rich, warm felt. She fuses the big silver links by hand. Her Philadelphia studio clatters with trays of bright beads and bins of silk and felt. It's a laboratory for pattern, color, and texture.

Linda May's textile story combines Texas ingenuity with lush, crazy colors. A fifth-generation Texan, she is the daughter of a machinist/inventor and a mother who could sew a dress in a day. May holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and has researched color and textiles across the world.