Original Oil Paintings by Caitlin Wallace-Rowland

When living back on my family’s land and painting my previous Home | Place series – I found a meaning behind my work that was very transformative. It was a way to process my grief and loss while highlighting the beauty that still comes from the loved ones that were no longer with me. The idea of the beauty you add to the world lasting long after you’re gone is a sentiment that I will always hold deep in my core.

In deciding to move back to New Orleans, I was worried that I would lose this muse. But I was surprised at just how quickly we felt at home in our new house in New Orleans. I realized that I’d spent so much of my creative career thinking about the importance of location-specific places (I wrote my Master’s thesis about it!), when a home is made by the things we choose to surround ourselves with and those we collect over a lifetime – the wedding china, art, things we pick up on our travels or are passed down from grandparents, textiles – the things that decorate our lives, provide the backdrop, and are what we touch and use daily. These are also things we transport with us, move from house-to-house, and provide a feeling of home no matter where we live.

This series of paintings highlights the familiar, the everyday, but also the little things in life that lift our spirits and make each day more beautiful and comforting – favorite foods, cut flowers, patterned fabrics. Highlighting textiles in particular in these paintings connects back to my work in textile design, my love (and collection of) block-printed fabrics, and honors our daily use of linens and pattern as an essential part of daily life, both for function, but also for joy and beauty.

After my dad died several years ago, the one thing I fixated on was that no matter how hard things were, the sun still rises every morning – one day ends and another begins. Each morning, we too have the chance to begin again. During the difficult times, when the days must go on even without our loved ones, it is often the simple and mundane acts that provide the footing to keep going or give something to look forward to – starting with breakfast. The fact that morning and mourning are homophones is not overlooked. These paintings are an ode to each day’s new beginning, commemorate the daily act of breakfast as a fresh start to each day, and coincide with my own fresh start in life – a new home, but filled with all the familiar items I’ve collected and brought with me from place to place.

Other Available Paintings:

about the artist

Caitlin Wallace-Rowland grew up in Southern Illinois on land that has been passed down through her family for generations. Her childhood was saturated in both creation (running through the creek and climbing trees) and creating (painting, cooking, sewing). She’s spent much of her adult life in New Orleans and has been shaped by its vibrancy and joy. A city that has been through so much hardship, but still knows how to celebrate – it will forever impact the way she looks for beauty in the world, amidst sorrow and struggle. After living for a few years back on her family’s farm in rural Illinois with her husband and two daughters (post her father’s sudden death from pancreatic cancer) and connecting again with the land of her ancestors, she recently made the move back again to New Orleans – the sparkling city that seems to always beckon her back home.

She has a B.A. in English and Studio Art (Painting) from Tulane University and an M.A. in Fibers (Textile Design/Print & Pattern) from The Savannah College of Art and Design. In addition to her work in fine art, she works as a fabric and textile designer for Dear Stella Fabrics and licenses her hand-painted surface pattern designs to be printed on products available at Target and HomeGoods/TJMaxx stores nationwide. She also works alongside her husband in their shared home pottery studio creating bespoke ceramic pieces for Rowland Pottery. 

She believes her role as an artist and textile designer is to open her eyes, see and notice the beauty around her, and synthesize those experiences into tangible form.