Hi there! My name is Courtney LaCaria and I am the farmer and fiber artist behind the company, Form & Function Creative. I live with my family on an alpaca farm that focuses on regenerative practices and provides the fleece that I spin into yarn and weave into fiber art. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the entire process from raising our alpaca to shearing them in the Spring and preparing their fleece. You can also follow our farming adventures @Paradisolacariafarms.
In many ways I’ve been doing fiber art since I was a little girl when I would make braided jewelry out of wild garlic and weave potholders on my bright red plastic loom. I cross-stitched in middle school and picked up knitting in high school. Sewing took over after college. But, it wasn’t really until I started weaving that it all came together for me.
We bought our (now) 13-year old a wooden lap loom and it sat unopened for a few months. It was the spring of 2020 and the world had completely shut down because of the pandemic. Looking for something to occupy my hands (and my mind), I opened the lap loom and started to weave. The experience was magical. The over and the under. Back and forth, and repeat. My first creation was far from perfect, and that was okay. This is because I was hooked on the process, itself. Weaving had showed me how to stay in the present moment.
Although weaving is my primary passion, I also spin, sew and embroider. Finding inspiration in nature and stories, my work reflects my love for art as both product and practice, creating fiber art that embodies the elements of joy, connection and gratitude. When I’m not making art, I’m in the kitchen baking or outside getting lost in the woods.
