Happy New Year! I hope you were able to take a genuine break during the holiday season and find a little light in these dark times. Some weeks, like this past week, I’m left feeling nothing but despair. I turn to my friends and stay active in my local community to keep going. With our government trying to destroy everything I hold dear — art, libraries, education, the natural world, immigrant rights, human rights, the rights of nature, equality, the list goes on — I know we have to keep fighting back, locally and nationally. I see making art as one form of resistance among many. They wouldn’t be trying to destroy it if it wasn’t a threat. Hope you continue to resist in any and every way you can! I’ve included a list of some of my favorite organizations to volunteer or donate to below. Send me a note with your favorites!

I’m truly thrilled to be included in the show Desert Island, a group exhibition opening January 31st from 5-8pm at DON’T LOOK Projects. Curated by Jaqueline Cedar of Good Naked Gallery, it includes so many artists I admire! LA friends, don’t miss it – come say hi!

l’ll be showing these two weavings made during the early part of the pandemic in 2020. I was thinking a lot about the symbolism found in Dutch still life paintings at that time: borage, the blue starflower, represents courage, protection and renewal; the poppy is sleep, fragility and death; a snake symbolizes cycles of life and death; quartz is healing, balance and spiritual growth. The process of creating the weavings and then printing onto them via cyanotype was a form of much needed meditation. I’m so happy for the opportunity to show them!

The title of this newsletter is a bit misleading. It’s not technically a new studio, but it’s a vastly improved studio! Thanks to a grant from The Craft Emergency Relief Fund, I was able to buy a new, heavy duty Janome sewing machine, some better lighting and an adjustable work table to use for sewing and drawing. And even some large storage shelves! These improvements will make a huge difference in my daily practice and it’s a delight to get back to work in this space!

I’d love to share some photos of my large indigo piece installed on the grounds of Chet Architecture this past fall. It was in the show Infield, curated by Meaghan Roddy, that was part of LA Design Weekend. I hand sewed this piece to the existing tennis net! It’s comprised entirely of fabric dyed by me and indigo pieces from Japan, sewn jogakbo style. The piece is 3 feet by 24 feet! The largest I think I’ve ever made. I’ll have more opportunities to show it this year so I’m working out other methods of displaying it. There won’t always be a tennis court available.

As always, if you have any questions please write back! And let me know what you’re up to, I love to hear from you!

Love, Caitlin