Talent in the genes at Brandon home

Tag: Rayon Ribbon
Bethanie Brandon has been a fabric artist for three decades.Her son, Robin, is just beginning his artistic career.The mother and son, residents of Lucas Valley, will show their work during one of the two weekends of Marin Arts Council's Open Studios - appropriately enough, Mother's Day weekend. They are among 280 artists, from Sausalito to West Marin, who will open their studio doors to the public May 3 and 4, May 10 and 11.Bethanie, 50, will open her garage-studio to show scarves, throws, pillows and table runners, most of them handpainted or appliqu d on sueded rayon. She will also show dresses, dusters and flare-leg pants of her own design.Robin, 13, will show a series of hand-painted skateboards - art that evolved from his hobby as a skateboarder. Last week, he was nursing a broken arm, product of an accident at the McInnis Park skateboard arena.As they prepared to get their home studio ready for public viewing, Bethanie's pride was starting to show and Robin knows to give credit when it's due."She always influenced me to be artistic and supported that, so that's what got me into this," he says. "Her artwork doesn't really influence mine, but her being an artist does."Bethanie saw Robin's knack for art early on. "When was he young and started doing drawings, I could see that he was into color and texture," she says. "I was hopeful. He was surrounded by art at home. We're always doing stuff around art; we have friends who are artists and photographers. But I think it's really in him, not something he picked up on because it was in his environment. I think it's genetic."Robin, a Miller Creek School student, works on a table set up in the family patio. His tools are spray paints, bottled acrylics, a drill. His art is highly fanciful and colorful, evolving lately into studied design rather than the cartoonish motifs of his first boards.Bethanie's art is coolly artistic: the designs are simple, often with an Asian aesthetic, the colors muted. Several of her works hang on the walls of her home, an airy Eichler whose simplicity reflects her artistic eye.On one wall, suspended from a pole, are three ribbon-like hangings inspired by Tibetan prayer flags. On a bedroom wall is a series of bundled bamboo sticks wrapped in fabric and installed behind Plexiglas. On a wall in one hallway is a collage of colored chips made to resemble an American flag."I have always loved the American flag," she confides. "The flag is very fragile and we must take care of it."In the works: a Union Jack. In her plans: a Tibetan prayer flag.Bethanie studied textile design at what is now Philadelphia University in Pennsylvania, and got her first job with J.P. Stevens in New York, designing fabrics for women's coats and suits. When her husband, real estate developer Peter Brandon, got a job in San Francisco, she came, too, and worked for Levi Strauss as a clothing designer. After two years, she joined a startup clothing company, Schram and Company, where she earned her skills as a businesswoman.When daughter Caely was born, Bethanie decided to work from home - and Bethanie Brandon Design was born.First she designed hats, then matching scarves. She soon adapted the sueded rayon she used in the scarves to make pillow covers and throws. "The home-decorating market was expanding enormously just then," she says.The owner of Summer House Gallery in Mill Valley persuaded her to enter the San Francisco Gift