I was given a heap of thick canvas ribbons and I accepted the challenge: to make something. Renewing, reassigning, redefining the discarded fits beautifully into dyeing with rust and food waste. In life, stains happen. My “stains” collection, the first offerings of which were constructed from this reassigned painter’s canvas, is based not on repetition in design and shibori patterns, but rather accidental, unintended forms. Unintended may be the wrong word. It’s not lack of intention, but the desire to deepen my connection with nature and culture - what the economist E.F. Schumacher called the two great garments of human life that should be served by the two great tools of human life, business and technology. This idea has a new poignancy. As we go through this global crisis together, we are called to slow down and rethink how we do everything. Here I’m reminded of another economist, Tim Jackson, who wrote “Prosperity Without Growth.” How we work, make, consume, live are undergoing a forced global paradigm shift. How do we respond? There is a joy in making something new from what we have and in doing it slowly, with intention, embracing imperfection. The original inspiration for my work of the past several years has been Korean Bojagi and the first pieces I made using this canvas re-emphasize this concept: chogak-bo, Korean patchwork. Long associated with food (wrapping, covering, transporting), it makes sense that my version would include placemats. Each piece requires time and patience. I create an environment for the stains to emerge - extracting color from avocado skins and setting the conditions for asymmetry, erosion and the imprint the passage of time makes. Philosophically, it’s the difference between a single peony, whose tattered petals are in full bloom only briefly and a bunch of perfect carnations, artificially dyed; the old barn and the prefab aluminum-sided house; the farmer’s market and the strip mall. I recommit to labor intensive work, hoping this moment will remind us all of the necessity to create an economy of care, craft and culture.