she’d bring them to the craft fair and delight in the simple fact that people wanted them, even though at the time she sold these pieces for just $18! After realizing that she could in fact sell what she was creating, she took an appliqué class and realized that she could interpret her pencil sketches and paintings into fabric art. From here, Chris began putting her drawings on fabric with the appliqué technique. She created a line of vests, jackets and handbags with her quirky and whimsical designs. She traveled the country displaying her work throughout the craft circuit and her line was picked up by a prominent retailer out of New York City. This is where her idea for the production of her art was born. In this moment of experiencing that the world at large wanted her visions she figured out a way to make that happen. She realized she could employ other sewers to re-create her designs on fabric for this line of apparel. It wasn’t until a friend in her Michigan art studio collective recommended framing her pieces instead of putting them on bodies. That’s when Chris realized a whole new possibility for her art. Still traveling the craft circuit and gaining notoriety across the country for her ability to make people laugh and experience a myriad of emotions through her images, Chris found herself at the New Orleans Jazz Festival Craft Fair. She’d attended this fair many times throughout the years. There’s always a ceremony to her departure from New Orleans but this particular trip offered something different. With a van full of her work, she and her assistant, Chris Redden took their ceremonial trip through the French Quarter as they often did prior to heading back to Michigan. Chris spotted a “For Rent” sign in the window of a gallery on Royal Street and on a whim, called the number. The owner of the space answered and Chris made a simple inquiry to lease the space for a month to see if it might work out. It had only been 5 years since Katrina and the French Quarter was still on the mend with Royal street being pretty deserted. Roberts-Antieau and Redden began crossing their fingers on day one…two…three and on the fourth day, Redden went down to Saint Louis Cathedral and lit a candle. That night, a man came into the gallery and