About Us

Joan McDonald grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and moved to Dixon, New Mexico with her late husband Ken McDonald in 1971 to live and work as an artist after graduating from Berkley where she studied fine art. She has been designing and painting fabric since the early 70’s, and started Embudo Fabric Design in the 90’s creating her famous potholders, tortilla warmers, t shirts, baby apparel, and now extending into aprons and tea towels.

“The colors are hand-mixed and the pieces are hand-screened so that the colors we see in our natural surroundings can be genuinely reproduced.”

Embudo Fabric Design has become a local favorite throughout the Land of Enchantment, and these hand crafted unique products can be found in many venues, stores, and kitchens across New Mexico. They have become treasures in the homes they occupy as they bring unique stories, characters, and pops of colors to people’s lives while existing as functional items.

Joan in her home studio in Dixon, New Mexico