Francine has traveled to more than 50 countries and is always looking to discover more. “I travel because I have to. To explore cultures and feel nature's overpowering scale. I feel at home in foreign environments, absorbing what does not exist in my daily life. I want to breathe in a space that has a purpose. I need to feel soothed and in love with objects, textures, and styles, which might seem at the surface random but are actually infused with meaning and purpose. I love literature and my travels are inspired by what I read. Those passages ultimately make their way into my designs. And then there is what inspires me daily. Family. Family is the soul of life, its what you work for, what you live for. Family resonates in all that I do.” Francine Gardner, 2014