Anna Maria Horner

Anna Maria Horner grew up in a house full of her dad's paintings and with a closet full of her mom's handi-work. Beds were warmed by the hand-loomed wool blankets sent by her grandmother from Greece. The busy little bodies of her and her siblings were warmed by the beautiful handknits of their grandmother in Indiana. As a kid in the 70's, she passed up the $1.79 Barbie dresses in Service Merchandise, opting instead to create designs from her mother's fabric scraps. A simple start to a diverse path.

In 1995, after graduating with an Honors Fine Arts Degree in Drawing from the University of Tennessee, Anna Maria opened Handmaiden, a clothing and housewares boutique. This retail space served as the home base for Anna Maria's clothing line which she designed and produced, together with her mom. Eventually, the label was offered to the wholesale market, where it sold at several stores across the country.

A common element in all of her work, whether fashion, quilting or fine art, is a passion for the language of color. As she continued to realize her point of view in many disciplines, they began to form a dialogue, one bettering the other, and leading to a constant stream of artistic growth. Somewhere around 2001, her fascination with taking an idea through all the necessary steps from her sketchbook to a store shelf sparked the momentum to create a brand. Anna Maria's fresh perspectives within traditional markets and her vision of being surrounded by the work of her own hands has led her to partnering with more than two dozen manufacturers to design homewares, gift items, textiles, authoring three sewing books, and publishing a continuing collection of sewing and needlework patterns. Her focus has intensified in the craft and creative industry where her heart has always been.