Hello Friends,

There are butterfly cocoons all over my yard. Which, though it sounds small, is miraculous. When we moved into this house 4 years ago, there were no bugs in the yard. I mean zero. I’d dig in the dirt and there were no worms, no beetles. Really, just… nothing. People in this neighborhood love to spray: for weeds, ants, spiders. I wasn’t sure what to do. We rent our house and I couldn’t truck in large loads of dirt and manure. So I started small with the slow work of rebuilding the soil. I pulled out a lot of plastic sheeting someone had put down. I added bits of compost and mulch to the dirt and planted some small native plants. They died. Literally every plant I put into the ground for years would die. So I grew things in containers and kept trying. And last year, after so long, I transplanted a few native shrubs into the ground and they lived! And I started to see worms in the dirt! And there are lots of wonderful bugs in our yard now. Mosquito eaters, native bees, honey bees, beetles and weird and beautiful spiders. And yes, a host of caterpillars who have transformed into cocoons. I think they’re Variable Checkerspots. I can’t wait until they morph into butterflies and find all my my flowering dye plants waiting for them. It’s witnessing this kind of slow, seemingly small, positive change that keeps me going lately. The news is bad and then worse and then unbearable. How can we have hope? I’m reminded to start small and just keep going. My hope is that If enough of us keep trying to change things for the better, we’ll all get there.

This Spring I have some exciting news to share, please read on below and thank you so much for being here.

Common Threads

My work was recently included in the show “Common Threads” at Gallery 130 at the University of Mississippi. It was juried by an artist whose work I love, Coulter Fussell. And my piece won Best in Show (image below). I was so shocked, I never win anything!

New Work

I’ve been working on a new body of work about the LA river. The river is vast and runs throughout LA in iconic cement channels. It’s a pretty disastrous bit of human engineering. So much water is lost as these channels rush it out to sea. There are re-wilding efforts being put forward by local groups like Friends of the LA River, and I hope in time the river can be freed to replenish the water table and support the local environment, at least in some parts of it’s path. I’ve loved researching and learning about the river as I create artwork about it.

I’m very excited about how this new piece turned out. It’s more abstract than much of my previous work and I’m interested in how far the abstraction can go while still being recognizable. And it’s going to be included in the show “Homage to Bojagi” at Quilt Festival in Korea this coming Fall. The show is curated by Youngmin Lee who I met in a wonderful Bojagi class she taught through Tatter Blue Library. Since then I’ve incorporated into my work some of the hand and machine sewn Bojagi techniques that I learned from her. I’m so honored to be included in this show. More info coming soon…

Need a Unique Gift?

Mother’s Day is coming up on Sunday May 12th, or maybe you need a special birthday gift for someone you love? My store is restocked with naturally dyed silk pillow cases and scarves. I appreciate your support so much!

This month I’m donating a portion of my store sales to World Central Kitchen, Planned Parenthood, and California Wildlife Center. What are your favorite non-profits to support?

Love,
Caitlin