Block Shop Textiles' Hopie Stockman on Art and Interiors That Stir the Soul

Rip & Tan: The Block Shop Textiles origin story is one of true creative calling. What was it about the practice of block printing that drew you and Lily in?

Hopie Stockman: As artists and craftspeople ourselves, we value the slow, collaborative, and considered process of traditional textile methods—from block printing in India to jacquard weaving in Italy—more than scale or efficiency. The human hand reveals itself in moments of slightly uneven printing registration, which is precisely where the magic of a block print lives.

Our company seeks to support this extraordinary art form via payment of fair wages, consistent orders, community investment, and upcycling waste fabric. We’ve been visiting our textile partners twice each year for ten straight years (barring Covid), so going to Jaipur feels like a homecoming, and we can’t wait to get back.

Rip & Tan: What’s it like running a company alongside your sister? Did you ever expect you’d go into business?

Hopie Stockman: We’re actually now three (out of four total) sisters running Block Shop! We’ve always loved making worlds together, starting from when we were kids growing up on a farm building birdhouses, arranging flowers, and painting murals. All four of us now live in LA and share friends, clothes, books, memes, and unsolicited opinions on love life. 

Of course, sibling biz is not without its unique set of challenges, miscommunications, family dinners-turned-product review sessions, and multi-year-long arguments over the ideal shade of blue. But most of the time, Block Shop feels like an extension of our childhood art projects and I’m so grateful for that.

Rip & Tan: How would you describe Black Shop’s general look and feel? How does this speak to your own stylistic sensibilities?

Hopie Stockman: We’re best known for our large-scale geometric motifs, but we’re big believers in mixing scales and design languages. We love pairing our oversized geos with our more recent line of tight florals, or a bright magenta rug with neutral furniture. 

We draw from art history, pulling inspiration from Art Deco carpets, Mughal architecture, Russian constructivism, Amish quilting traditions, and the palette of the nearby Mojave Desert. 

Block Shop’s principles are comfort, beauty, compassion, and creativity. And we try not to take ourselves too seriously; textiles are the icing on the cake of interior design. Our products celebrate the interior as the place where your spirit can be fully expressed.

I like to think about the particular purpose of each room, and how our designs can enhance those spaces and their corresponding times of day, whether it’s breakfast mayhem with my big family and our handwoven, indestructible dhurrie underfoot, or Sunday afternoon reading on an English roll-arm sofa recovered in our pansy floral fabric. We hope to bring an unexpected but completely practical beauty to the different phases of the day.

Rip & Tan: How does your home reflect the way you work and live? Are there any special pieces or places that really make this space feel like home?

Hopie Stockman: My mom says your physical space is a reflection of your interior world. These rooms make me feel like myself, and these walls have held me through some big life changes. I never get tired of being in this sweet house, even after two+ years of Covid. I love having friends over to eat on my porch, I love watching the sunset from these windows.

I try to keep it decluttered but I have a lot of stuff that’s meaningful to me. It’s not all expensive and chic—some of it is embellished (my bathroom spoonbill mural) or folksy (antique rocking horse), and that’s just what I like.

My life is mostly filled with women, so I’m always painting portraits of strong women. Having them around is quite bolstering.

Rip & Tan: Whether you’re designing textiles or painting the walls in your own home, your creative eye certainly see no bounds. What would you say drives you as an artist?

Hopie Stockman: Art is a daily life practice. My grandmother Happy was always stenciling her walls, quilting, sewing, gardening, and experimenting in the kitchen to make life more interesting.

She said color makes a meal more delicious. I try to live by those same principles. Add your own art to all you do. Use good ingredients and add color. I want to make textiles and paintings that stir up your insides like a lap steel guitar.

Rip & Tan: What’s next for Block Shop? Any exciting collaborations or releases in store for 2022?

Hopie Stockman: We are beyond excited to be launching wallpaper this spring. It’s been two years in the works! We’re proud to be partnering with family-owned Twenty2 wallpaper in CT. We also have a new line of gorgeous wool rugs coming this spring that we made in partnership with our friends and partners at V-Weave in Panipat, India.

Rip & Tan: What does living well mean to you?

Hopie Stockman: The opportunity to make things all the time. I’m not talking about big, finished works of art, or anything too serious. But the act of creating is constructive, additive, and it moves you forward. Something as simple as writing a thank you note or cooking dinner for someone can be a small act of optimism. By creating, you’re putting your imprint on the world.

Living well also means living beyond yourself by putting your energy into other people and their well-being. For me, it’s giving attention to employees, friends, and sisters and trying to meet them where they’re at. Listening fully can be so hard, yet it’s so life-giving.

Living well also means sitting in discomfort without giving in to negative or self-defeating thought patterns. I feel like I’m living well when I remember that I’m just a speck in the universe, that it’s citrus season here in LA, there’s a nice breeze out, I’m listening to something nice and twangy like Ray Price, and maybe tonight I’ll watch a good movie.