We are thrilled to present Seasons of Change - a body of work by Mary Ball, Tombolo’s third annual Artist in Residence. Her exhibition was on display at our NYC flagship from February 20-27, 2025, featuring a collection of whimsical new works that express a period of transformation in her life, along with three very special shirts she designed in close partnership with our team. The shirts are now live and available for purchase:
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“When I began creating this collection," Mary shares, "I was 8 weeks pregnant and living in New Orleans. As the summer heat moved in, I drew inspiration from the tropical plant life surrounding me in my outdoor studio. We welcomed our baby in October, and then we moved to Birmingham shortly after. The changes in my life, and in my surroundings, felt stark…
“A pond in our new backyard was frozen, but there in my arms I held a fresh bundle of new life. My paintings follow this transition between seasons, the end of one chapter to the beginning of another, and to a family of three where there once was two. I hope this sentiment resonates with the viewer wherever they are in their season of life.”
Selected from over 600 applicants to the 2024 Tombolo Artist Residency, Mary Ball captivated us with her dreamlike worlds—lush with imaginary flora and mythological gardens, each serving as an expressive symbol of transition and self-reflection. Her works, while created in the immediately accessible environment of her backyard, feel wildly escapist. What better fit for a brand born in the concrete jungle of New York City that makes ‘escapewear’ designed to transport the wearer to a different time, place or state of mind…
Mary’s creative journey is deeply intertwined with personal transformation. After five years painting in her garden studio in New Orleans, she relocated to Alabama mid-residency, marking a profound shift in both her surroundings and her life. This transition—a new studio, an unfamiliar landscape, and the transformative experience of becoming a mother—reshaped not only her practice but also her perspective.
Her latest series reflects this evolution. Inspired by native foliage and the shifting seasons of the southern climate, Ball’s signature botanicals and imagined landscapes mirror the fluidity of life's transitions.
From our first encounter with her work, we were entranced. Her abstract compositions of vibrant, fluid brushstrokes conjuring dreamlike landscapes, felt like a natural extension of Tombolo’s world, where the beauty of nature and the joy of escape are at the heart of everything we create. Collaborating with Mary was effortless; her expressive vision blended seamlessly into our design process, resulting in wearable works of art that bring her world to life while honoring Tombolo’s signature ethos of nostalgia, wanderlust, and organic beauty.
Mary Ball x Tombolo transforms Mary’s ink and acrylic work called ‘Birds and Branches’ into a wearable canvas.
We digitized this captivating work by scanning it in high definition and then transforming the organic shapes found on the canvas into a seamless repeating pattern for printing on fabric.
We added subtle Tombolo flourishes to complement the work, including ‘tiger shell’ buttons that mirror the organic shapes and spotting of the original. We also fringed the edges of the cuffs, collar and bottom sweep to introduce a beachy, playful element.
For the final two limited-edition shirts, we experimented with a new artistic approach: we supplied Mary with blank shirts and invited her to paint directly on them.
Mary used her intuitive, expressive brushwork to explore the contours of a new canvas - a classic Tombolo shirt silhouette. We then scanned the entire painted original shirts and pieced them back together as digitally printed ‘editions’ – iterating print tests over and over again until we could faithfully recreate the nuances of her brushstrokes and range of color with accuracy.
For finishing touches, we added blanket stitching to open edges and designed pockets that seamlessly integrate into the body of the work. We hope our customers enjoy these wearable works of art as much as we do.
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Mary’s Artist Residency culminated in an exhibition of her recent body of work at our flagship store in New York City. Entitled Seasons of Change, the exhibition included 19 new works: a collection that embodies a longing for the outdoors—reflecting on fleeting moments in nature, from the shadows cast by trees on a city building to the great blue herons of the Gulf Coast. Her work is a testament to the act of looking—an invitation to get lost in the details of the world around us.
The show ran at 208 Mott St. from Feb 20-27, 2025.
We auctioned off the two hand-painted originals of both the blue and green 'Seasons of Change' shirts, custom framed in dual-sided plexiglass.
100% of the proceeds from the auction were donated to Free Arts NYC.
MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST
Mary Ball (b. 1993) lives and works in Birmingham, Alabama, by way of New Orleans. Ball received her BFA from the University of Georgia in 2016 and her MFA from New York Academy of Art in 2018. Recent exhibitions include Art In Bloom at New Orleans Museum of Art, White Linen Night at Studio 633, New Orleans and Controlled Chaos at 111 Franklin St, New York. Ball has had prior artist residencies including the Willow House Residency in Terilingua, Texas.
ABOUT TOMBOLO'S ARTIST RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Tombolo's Artist Residency Program offers the chance for emerging artists to have their artwork feature on our shirts. Tombolo offers a stipend, mentorship, and a (zero commission) NYC exhibition at our flagship store -- along with the opportunity to collaborate on two custom shirts: one inspired by an existing work and a second inspired by a piece created during the Residency itself. The artist also receives a royalty tied to shirt sales.
Applications are open for our 2025 Artist Residency!
Explore our previous artist collaborations:
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