Biography

The artist first learned to hook rugs, weave, and make ceramics in college, but since then has developed her own artistic practice. She creates hooked tapestries suspended from ceramic and wire sculptures. She also creates ceramic wall art and vessels which embody the spontaneity and spirit of modern abstraction.

She has participated in exhibitions put on by the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Art League of Houston, Sawyer Yards, Women in Literary and Visual Arts, the Ardest Gallery, Lawndale Arts Center, the Surface Design Association, Envision Arts, and the Rug Hooking Magazine. In 2018, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame for hooked art and, in 2023, she hung her first solo exhibition, Flow Meets Fiber, in Gallery 300 (Houston).  She operates an art studio – Studio 220 – in the Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston.  She is represented by the Ardest Gallery (The Woodlands). She is a professor of religious studies at Rice University.

Resume

Studio

  • April DeConick Art. Studio 220. The Silos, Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas.

Gallery Representation

  • Ardest Gallery. 25200 Grogan’s Park Drive, The Woodlands, Texas.

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2025. Wonderously Made・Clay and Fiber. Bay 100 Gallery. The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas. October 25-November 22, 2025.

  • 2023. Flow Meets Fiber. Gallery 300. The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas. July 3-29.

Group Exhibitions

  • 2025. Divergent Threads. East Corridor Gallery at Sabine Street Studios, Houston Texas. Mar 27, 2025 - Sat, May 10.

Exhibitions

  • 2025. The Shores. In: CraftTexas 2025. Main Gallery, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Houston, Texas. Juror Abraham Thomas. September 6-January 31.

  • 2025. Goodnight Shores・Do Your Thing ・Pots Nos. 3-6. In: Be the Art: The Silos Selfie Experience. The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas. May 23-August 9.

  • 2025. The Shores. In: Classics Reimagined. Surface Design Association Online Exhibition. Juror Helen Adams.

  • 2025. Look At It Differently. In: Through the Artist’s Eyes. The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas. Saturday, March 1 - Saturday, May 17.

  • 2025. Earth Spirit. In: Cool Down. The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas. November 14-February 15, 2025.

  • 2024. Over the Edge and From the Light. In: Abstraction. Ardest Gallery, The Woodlands, Texas. Juror Terry Suprean. July 10-August 3.

  • 2024. Escape. Arthouse Art Loan Program. Houston.

  • 2024. Earth Spirit. In: Interplay. Surface Design Association. The Dairy Barn Arts Center. Juror Annet Couwenberg. June 28-September 4.

  • 2024. Triple Spirit. In: The Big Show. Lawndale Art Center, Houston. Juror: Laura Augusta. June 7-August 17.

  • 2024. EPIMONE/persistence and Difference is Beautiful. In: A Version of Beauty. The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston. May 11-August 17.

  • 2024. Good Luck Barbie and (In)habitation. In: Dimension. Ardest Gallery, The Woodlands, Texas. Juror: Jeff Forster. May 11-June 1.

  • 2024. There is a Rose. In: Small Frames, Big Ideas 2. Gallery 200. The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston. January 1-March 31.

  • 2023. (In)habitation. In: Creating Space: Weaving Stories in Fibre. Organizer: Harriet Goodall. Virtual Exhibition with print catalog.

  • 2023. METAMORPHOSIS/change and Blood, Sweat, and Tears. In: Artists of the Silos Winter Exhibition. November 18-February 12.

  • 2023. Blood, Sweat, and Tears. In: Expansion. Women in the Visual and Literary Arts. POST-Houston. Juror and Curator: Elena Poirot. September 1-November 11.

  • 2023. Wild Spring, River Bottom, and Beneath Spring. In: Big Ideas, Small Frames. The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston. August 28-November 11.

  • 2023. Escape and Peacock Collar. Best In Show. In: Envision Arts: Aquamarine. Virtual exhibition. Juror: Ginger Cochran.

  • 2023. Bleeding Out. In: I Choose, Therefore I Am. Silver Street Studio Exhibition, Houston, Texas. Juror: Rachelle LaBlanc. March 11-April 30. Permanent online exhibition at www.ichoosethereforeiam.com.

  • 2023. We are Connected, Difference is Beautiful, and Rose Cascade. In: Artists Talk. The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas. March 1-April 30.

  • 2022. Swimming in Balmorhea Springs and Reflections on Lake Raven. In: Envision Arts:Terra and Tide. Virtual exhibition. Juror: Ginger Cochran.

  • 2022. River of Light. In: Faculty-Student Exhibition. Art League of Houston. July 30-September 2.

  • 2022. Grow Wild. In: Free Expression. The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas. July 1-September 30.

  • 2022. Transfiguration: Red to Purple. In: Love Story. The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas. February 1-April 30.

  • 2021. The Place Where All Stairways End. In: The Silo’s Artists: The Silos at Sawyer Yards, Houston, Texas. February 1-December 30.

  • 2021. We Are Connected and Difference is Beautiful. In: Envision Arts: Texture II. Virtual exhibition. Juror: Ginger Cochran.

  • 2021. Grow Wild. In: Faculty-Student Exhibition. Art League of Houston. July 30-August 28.

  • 2021. Beneath Spring and Spark of Life. Honorable Mention. In: Envision Arts: Spring. Virtual exhibition. Juror: Ginger Cochran.

  • 2020. Homage to Van Gogh and Homage to Georgia O’Keeffe. In: Envision Arts: Prism. Virtual exhibition. Juror: Ginger Cochran.

Juried Art and Craft Shows

  • 2025. Bayou City Art Festival. Downtown, Houston, Texas.

Awards and Honors

  • 2024. Triple Spirit. Juror’s Award. The Big Show. Lawndale Art Center. Juror: Laura Augusta.

  • 2024. DIAKRISIS/discernment. Third Place. In: Dimension. The Ardest Gallery. Juror: Jeff Forster.

  • 2023. Escape and Peacock Collar. Best In Show. In: Envision Arts: Aquamarine. Virtual exhibition. Juror: Ginger Cochran.

  • 2021. Beneath Spring and Spark of Life. Honorable Mention. In: Envision Arts: Spring. Virtual exhibition. Juror: Ginger Cochran.

  • 2018. Induction into the Hall of Fame for hooked art.

Published Juried Pieces in Exhibition Catalogues

  • 2023. (In)habitation. In: Creating Space: Weaving Stories in Fibre. Edited by Harriet Goodall.

  • 2023. Bleeding Out. In: I Choose, Therefore I am 2023 Exhibition Catalog. Edited by Rachelle LeBlanc.

  • 2020. Original Palette. In: Celebration of Hand-Hooked Rugs 30.

Special Event Appearances

  • 2024. Artist Talk for The Big Slide Show. Lawndale Art Center. June 22.

  • 2023. Artist Talk on “Renegade Women” podcast with Meryl Cook, December 9.

  • 2023. Artist Exhibition Talk: Flow Meets Fiber. Sip and Stroll Event. Arts District Houston. Organizer: Nicole Peralta. July 15.

Publications

  • 2023. April DeConick. Flow Meets Fiber: April DeConick Fiber Art Exhibition. Houston: Studio 220 Press.

  • 2023. April DeConick. Soul Windows: April DeConick Fiber Art Series. Houston: Studio 220 Press.

  • 2022. April DeConick. Going Abstract with April DeConick: A Practical Workbook. Houston: Studio 220 Press.

  • 2022. April DeConick. Power Dyeing with April DeConick: A Practical Workbook. Houston: Studio 220 Press.

  • 2013. April DeConick. Wool Snapshots: A Guide to Creating Miniature Wool Portraits from Photos. Houston: Studio 220 Press.

  • 2011. April DeConick. The Wool Palette: A Guide to Dyeing Your Own Color Palette of Wool. Houston: Studio 220 Press.

Featured Appearances

  • 2021. Dawn Awakens featured in “Exposure. ” Page 37 in Summer edition of Surface Design Association Journal: Spontaneity and Play in Fiber Art.

  • 2014. “April DeConick.” Pages 105-6 in Deanne Fitzpatrick, Simply Modern: Contemporary Designs for Hooked Rugs. Nimbus.

Professional Service

  • 2025. Curator: The Gnostic Imagination Illumination Exhibition. Moody Center for the Arts. Rice University, Houston, Texas. March 27-April 23.

  • 2013. Juror for Celebration of Hand-Hooked Rugs 23.

Teaching

  • 2023. “Crazy Color.” Sauder Village Rug Week. Archbold, Ohio.

  • 2022. “Going Abstract.” 3-Day Retreat. Sauder Village Rug Week. Archbold, Ohio.

  • 2022. “Power Dyeing.” Sauder Village Rug Week. Archbold, Ohio.

  • 2021-present. Master Dyeing Course. Online instruction with videos. Art Rug Academy.

  • 2019. “Color Theory and the Color Tree.” Sauder Village Rug Week. Archbold, Ohio.

  • 2019. “Zonalism.” ATHA Biennial. Denver, Colorado.2012. “Palette Dyeing.” Sauder Village Rug Week. Archbold, Ohio.

  • 2018. “Exploring the Color Spectrum.” Green Mountain Rug Guild. Montplier, Vermont.

  • 2015. “Zonalism.” Sauder Village Rug Week. Archbold, Ohio.

  • 2015. “Zonalism.” ATHA Biennial. San Antonio, Texas.

  • 2013. “Miniature People.” Deanne Fitzpatrick Studio. Amherst, Canada.

Memberships

  • Art League of Houston

  • Surface Design Association

  • Fiber Art Network

  • Textile Society of America

  • Visual Arts Alliance Houston

  • ClayHouston

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