ABOUT LEILA

Leila is an abstract artist and designer ​whose bold, colorful, and playful patterns bring joy to everyday life and the art of giving. Rooted in sustainability, creativity, and human connection, each piece celebrates the beauty of mindful living and the joy of surrounding yourself with art that feels good in every way.

Artist Leila Simon Hayes in her studio with her abstract art prints framed and hung up on a wall in the background.

"Made from a meditative dream space, inspired by my curiosity about the universe and what we cannot see, I’m musing on playful scale alongside rhythm and movement."

Gif of artist Leila Simon Hayes creating her handmade designs in her studio using mixed media.

PROCESS

Through a creative process that focuses on the essence of relationship between shape and color, Leila’s designs offer an opportunity to slow down, look again, and remember that joy is allowed.

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Leila Simon Hayes showing her step-by-step art making process of remixing a black and white patterned paper on a wooden surface.

VALUES

Artist-made, small batch, sustainable, women-owned, joy-centered.

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Table setting with a green napkin, pink polka dot placemat, and green sunburst table runner all designed by artist Leila Simon Hayes.
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It's never too late

to start fresh

In my early 40s, working full-time in museum graphic design and raising two young kids, I hit a wall. I was completely disconnected from my own creativity, and even though life was already full, making art suddenly felt urgent, not optional.

So I gave myself a small, doable challenge: a 100-day project. Ten hand-painted shapes, ten colors, remixed in a new way every single day. It was simple enough to fit in the margins of a busy life.

On day 100, I unintentionally made a pattern, and something clicked. So I kept going (for 850+ days straight) and what started as a personal experiment turned into an entirely new creative path: transforming my abstract art into bold, colorful patterns for sustainably-made home decor products to surround yourself with.

Since 2018, I've been making art this way. I opened my shop in 2020, and went full-time with it in 2025. My customers tell me my work makes their homes feel more vibrant and alive, and that's exactly the point. I want to bring joy, color and playful pattern into spaces, and connect with people who care about handmade, human-made design that’s sustainably made.

Every design starts by hand, in my studio—creative, unique, and made with intention. I hope it makes you feel enlivened and inspired.

A Creative Director

Shaping Culture

Before shifting her career into art, Leila partnered with visionaries and powerful thinkers as a creative director and graphic designer, helping them bring their visions to life in print, in galleries, in museum exhibitions, and online.

As Creative Director at ICA/Boston, she was responsible for the artful evolution of a world-class brand. Leila worked for some of America’s most treasured institutions including Harvard University, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

When not immersed in shape, color and pattern, Leila spends her time hiking the local woodsy loops near Boston, crafting bluesy rock songs with her band, and raising two creative and hilarious kids with her science teacher sweetie.

"Leila presents a really arresting selection of patterns. She has a bold, confident use of color and interesting, unique mark-making. It is really confident work."

—Janine Vangool, UPPERCASE Magazine

"Leila's journey invites us to reconsider our own relationship with uncertainty, and to ask: what happens when we stop demanding answers and start embracing the unknown?"

—Emily Silverman, The Nocturnists

Book titled 'The Creative Business Handbook' written by Alicia Puig and Ekaterina Popova, illustrated by Leila Simon Hayes

"Bespoke patterns with beautiful energy and layering, Leila is a master of color and form. It was a delight see the inspiration, process, and conceptual thinking behind her stunning work."

—Lizzie Vaughan, Chronicle Books