Well hello! My name is Patrick Donohue, and I am the proprietor of this establishment. So you want to know something about me?

I am a software engineer, by profession. I have been working in the field for quite a while, after getting my BS (yes, I know) in electrical and computer engineering from Drexel University and my MS in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

As for the textiles, I have always been involved in crafts since I was young, going through construction paper like mad when I was first allowed to use scissors and glue. I would see my mother crochet at night when I was a wee child and would bug her to teach me what she was doing. That was always getting put off for other things, so I eventually taught myself how to knit and crochet from books from the school library. (Yes, there was a lot of teasing in school for this.) During these years (elementary through middle school) I really just went from craft to craft, trying each one out for a few years: macrame, counted cross-stitch, plastic canvas needlepoint, and crochet.

I really got into knitting when in high school when a shop called the Elegant Ewe opened up in Bel Air, and that is when I met Martha Barchowski. It is through her that I learned to let go of the strangle hold I had on the yarn while knitting, and that there were actually people to who actually got together to discuss this stuff and learn new things. Woohoo!

After knitting constantly for about five years, I started to feel the desire to have more control over the stuff I was making, so I learned how to spin. After an additional five years, I decided that I needed to know how to make other types of fabric, so I took weaving lessons at the Mannings. My next craft, well that seems to be sewing.

At the end of 2004, I met Paul Saxon, referred to from here on out as Mr. Penney. There’s a sale at Penney’s! He is the yin to my yang; and in 2005, we exchanged rings. We are busy setting up the house that we purchased in 2006, giving me lots of opportunities to utilize my skills in my various crafts.

How did I come about the name Textillian? Well, I had to come up with a studio name fast, as I was donating an item for a charity’s silent auction. The studio name was needed basically to increase the value of the piece, making people think there was some kind of status going along with the work. Textillian was the best I could come up with. I did a quick search of it at the time, and only found one instance of the word. It turns out the use of it was as I wanted, so I went with it.

 To contact me, email me at textillian@textillian.com.