Molokai Residency
In January of 2025, I spent 17 days on the island of Molokai as the Artist in Residence with the Molokai Arts Center.
I hung out with the geckos and the crabs and the birds. I hunted for wildflowers and walked on the beach and through the woods. I took hundreds of pictures.
The culmination of my time there was a set of handspun and crocheted tapestries: Seaside and Mountainside.
But they are only part of the story.
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Molokai: Seaside and Mountainside
Many thanks to all the kind and wonderful people I met during my residency, and most especially to the Molokai Arts Center, who hosted this program.
Join me on Patreon for free to read all of my photo-rich, journal style posts that I shared during my stay on the island.
Please enjoy the galleries below for some process pictures!
SEASIDE
MOUNTAINSIDE
Let's talk a little story, shall we?
Before I dove into fiber selection, prep, and spinning for my “big” project, I took some time to simply soak up the experience of being in Molokai.
I was almost immediately delighted by the discovery of my bright green roommate. A day gecko! Okay, so actually the poor little thing almost gave me a heart attack the first time I saw it. But after that we didn’t scare each other so much.
We shared a few meals (not literally) and then he started inviting friends over. One day I counted five or six different geckos throughout the house!
They were my constant companions. A bright spark of color on the walls and porch railings. They also occasionally kept me on my toes.
The first few days, I also spent many, many hours watching and taking pictures of birds.
Mostly they were the same kinds of birds I see in our neighborhood on Oahu: mynas, cattle egrets, plovers, zebra doves, and feral chickens, of course. But I was utterly delighted to capture some photos of the warbling white-eyes that would flit between palm trees, hanging upside down and singing their little hearts out!
Another triumphant photo moment was when I finally captured an image of a myna sitting amongst the bright red berries of one of the palm trees. I tried SO many times and they just kept flying away! But my persistence eventually paid off, ha ha, and even let to an abstract painting study—I haven’t tried painting birds yet. Perhaps it’s about time I give it a go!
One of the gals at the Art Bar did use one of my photos to inspire a beautiful watercolor painting of the cattle egret I caught just as it took off into the skies. I got such a kick out of watching her paint it on one of her postcards! I wonder if she ever mailed it to anyone…
One day I spent about an hour sitting on the sandy hillside next to the beach watching these little crabs run around everywhere, making strange little marks in the sand that looked like bird tracks. Turns out, they appeared to be some type of sand bubbler crab and they were making these little balls of sand as they ate!
My first thought? Hmm, I bet I could make a crochet pattern from this.
And so I did.
The pattern preview (first draft of the written instructions) is available to all members on Patreon, both paid and free, so if you love this texture as much as I do, go check it out!
You just never can tell where inspiration will come from, can you!?
And I could have watched those little guys fighting all day, ha ha. What a fun afternoon that was!
With all of the photos (literally hundreds of them!) I took on Molokai, I’m sure I have enough inspiration to last me for years to come. And yet I wish I had more! I wish I’d found more wildflowers, especially. I wish I’d painted more.
But I’m also really pleased with the work I created while there.
The tapestries turned out beautifully. And when I see them I still feel some of that Molokai magic that wrapped me up in its embrace for those three weeks.
I can close my eyes and hear the waves lapping at the shore and smell the rain falling around me on the mountainside. I remember the joy, the exhaustion, the exhilaration of being immersed in a place where my only job was to CREATE.
It’s hard to put it all into words. But I sure have tried, haven’t I!?
I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey alongside me. If you’d like to explore more of this work, I have 17 photo-rich, journal style posts over on Patreon (you can join me for free!), so you can really dive deep into the stories, images, and creative processes that shaped this work.
And if you think YOU might like to have an experience like this one, I encourage you to consider applying for the next artist residency program from the Molokai Arts Center, or perhaps look to see if you have anything available near you!
As a creative, I can’t recommend something like this enough. As an artist, I hope that you feel some of the energy and joy coming through in my work. As a crocheter, I hope you feel inspired to start your own new project soon!
Remember: there is color and texture all around us, just waiting to delight and inspire you. Go find something that brings you joy today! And take a picture of it for later. ;)
Artist Statement
Molokai: Seaside and Mountainside
The time I spent on Molokai as the Artist in Residence may have been short (especially for a fiber artist!), but it was also a period of deep observation, connection, and creation. Each piece in this collection of work, whether a photograph, a painting, the handspun yarn, or even the words I wrote during the experience, carries traces of the land, the sea, and the small moments that unfolded in between.
While the tapestries might be the culminating works, the “BIG” art, if you will, they are really only a part of the story. Every sketch, splash of paint, strand, and swatch expresses an ongoing conversation with place. It is a process of listening, responding, and letting the colors and textures of Molokai shape what emerged.
I believe that art has the capacity to hold energy—to carry with it small, fleeting experiences that might otherwise be lost. It becomes a kind of container for emotion, for reflection, and for the passage of time. My hope is that as you explore this work, you’ll feel not only the imprint of the island and its interconnectedness, mauka to makai, but also find echoes of your own memories and connections stirred within.
LOCAL LIBRARY
DISPLAY
During the month of June, my work from Molokai will be on display at
my local library in Pearl City. If you happen to be in Hawaii,
I'd love for you to stop by and let me know what you think!
A beginner friendly crochet class will also be offered on June 8th. You'll find more information about the class as well as how to register on their website.
Get in Touch
Did you see something here that really resonated or inspired you? I'd love to hear about it!
You're also welcome to reach out if you are interested in an original piece or want to discuss commissioned work.
P.S. Are you thinking about picking up crocheting? I just so happen to have an intro to crochet class on Skillshare! Check it out here.