Artist Talk & Painting Technique Class @ Approved Textiles
Water is essential, yet fragile. As climate change accelerates and contamination threatens access, it’s a resource too often taken for granted. Approved Textiles—Fabric Row’s first fabric store in forty years—is making history again with its first-ever Artist in Residence. Camilla Mustard explores this urgent reality in A Love Letter to Water, a collection of hand-painted textiles created on regenerative jersey cotton—fabric that requires 99% less water than conventional cotton.
“We take water for granted, but clean water isn’t a given,” Mustard says. “This collection is about recognizing that privilege while also honoring water as a source of healing and wisdom.” Her work reflects both urgency and reverence, drawing from a lifelong connection to rivers, lakes, and oceans. “Water teaches us—it’s rhythmic, powerful, and always moving forward.”
During her residency, Mustard has stepped away from the demands of production to embrace experimentation. “Slowing down and being intentional feels radical in a world that values speed and convenience,” she says.
Approved Textiles founder Matthew Addonizio sees her approach as essential to the shop’s ethos. “Camilla’s work is thoughtful, urgent, and deeply personal—exactly the kind of artistry we want to support. We launched this residency as a way to work with artists who don’t typically create flat textiles, to give them space to experiment. Camilla was a natural fit. Instead of dyeing fabric in large vats, she paints each piece by hand, drastically reducing water waste while creating truly one-of-a-kind textiles. That’s the kind of innovation we want to champion.”
Approved Textiles compensates its Artists in Residence up front, covering both their time and materials so that “capitalism doesn’t get in the way of their imagination,” as Addonizio puts it. “We’re paying artists for their vision—not just their labor—so they can create freely.”
All pieces from A Love Letter to Water will be available for purchase as one-of-a-kind, hand-painted works in 3-yard swaths—equal parts fine art and functional textile.
Approved Textiles will celebrate the collection with a First Friday gallery-style showing on March 7 from 6 to 8 PM. On March 22, from 5 to 6 PM, Mustard will give a free artist talk, followed by a painting techniques class from 6 to 8 PM, where participants will collaborate with her to create custom, one-of-a-kind bandannas to take home (class fee applies). The residency will conclude with a closing party on March 30 from 4 to 6 PM.