Longleaf-Leader-FALL-2021-2.qxp_Layout 1 9/16/21 10:39 AM Page 39
ARTS & LITERATURE
LONGLEAF
Art SPOTLIGHT
Home + Hoop
Save the Snails Magnificent Ramshorn Snail created for Coastal Plain Conservation Group, 2021. Cotton, embroidery floss, watercolor, and acrylic on 5” bamboo hoop
ABOUT THE ARTIST
After moving far and frequently as a child, it was important to Kevina Casaletto to put down deep roots once she chose coastal North Carolina as her home in 2002, which meant learning as much as she could about the local ecosystem. She became aware of longleaf pine’s relationship with fire at an Earth Day celebration at what is now Long Leaf Park in Wilmington, North Carolina. Enthralled by the idea that longleaf needs fire to thrive, she soon learned about Wilmington’s Fire in the Pines Festival. And then a friend loaned her Janisse Ray’s Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. Over the years, Kevina’s fascination with fire and the pines that once covered most of the Southeast continued to grow. With in-person school unavailable during the pandemic, Kevina developed supplemental lessons on local ecology for her two children. They spent mornings in salt marshes and nature reserves sketching periwinkles, cicadas, and flytraps. At the Longleaf Series, 2021 same time, Kevina resumed her hand embroidery hobby, stitch- Lifecycle of a Longleaf, Summer Savanna, Good Fire ing hoops inspired by the coastal landscape while her children Cotton, embroidery floss, and watercolor on 6” bamboo hoops explored the marsh or climbed trees. Since then, she has launched her small business, Home + Hoop, finding a robust community of people passionate about longleaf education and restoration. Kevina uses her art to spark an appreciation for this incredibly diverse and once prolific ecological system. Through Home + Hoop, she partners with individuals and organizations in the longleaf restoration field to promote their work and spread knowledge about the unique plants and animals dependent on a landscape built by fire. She looks forward to learning and sharing more longleaf knowledge across the Southeast, and hopefully, the nation. Long live the longleaf!
ABOUT THE ART Kevina’s pieces are hand-embroidered custom cotton hoops. She utilizes watercolor paint and embroidery floss to achieve layered landscapes featuring native southeastern plants and ecosystems. Fire, longleaf pines, and native carnivorous plants are some of her favorite subjects. Follow Home + Hoop on Facebook & on Instagram @homeandhoop. Shop etsy.com/shop/homeandhoop or email Kevinacasaletto@gmail.com for custom commissions.
Artist at Long Leaf Park with her piece, A Pine Fell in Love. Featured quote by Janisse Ray. Photo by Sara Williams.
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Triple Threat Series, 2021 Spoon-leaved Sundew, Venus Flytrap, Pitcher Plant Cotton, embroidery floss, and watercolor on 5” bamboo hoops
