Written and photographed by Caitlin Reclusado
If you head down the stairs in the Phoenix Shop, you’ll find yourself in our beautiful clothing boutique. Next to the hand-painted dressing rooms is a bevy of color, full of hand-knitted sweaters, vests, gloves and hats in a variety of rainbow hues. Many of these pieces were made by our very own Holly Fassett. Holly wears several hats here at Nepenthe. She’s not only the CEO of the company, but also helps with the bookkeeping, processes the payroll and is an incredible baker. At her heart though, she’s a maker and creator, a resilient, deep-feeling and caring woman who has been shaped completely by her life here in Big Sur.
Holly never thought she would be an artist despite growing up at Nepenthe, surrounded by a variety of creative people. She was 3 years old when her family moved to Big Sur and was 5 years old when her parents, Bill and Lolly Fassett opened up Nepenthe. Back then, Nepenthe wasn’t the name it is now, and neither was Big Sur. Things were slow, and it could get boring waiting for guests to come, so knitting was a popular way to pass the time. It seemed that everybody knitted: the waitresses, the bartenders and even the cooks. Lolly, Holly’s mother, was probably the first one to introduce her to knitting, but she learned much of the craft from the employees who worked there: how to hold her needles, different techniques and crocheting as well. Nepenthe was the community’s living room, and this feeling of closeness created a nurturing neighborhood that helped foster Holly’s creativity. One of Holly’s favorite memories, of making “dump sweaters”, is a perfect example of this. In the past, because of how far away they lived, most of the yarn would be supplied through a big order via the mail. When it came in, local knitters would gather and the yarn would be dumped into a huge pile on the floor. Everyone would gather and grab random balls of yarn to use on their projects. Because of this, people would make things that would be full of stripes of bright, random colors. Holly still loves using this technique in her work, embracing that memory and using the colors that make her feel happy.
Knitting isn’t the only medium that Holly fell in love with. In her forties, she saw an article for a painting class for complete beginners. She felt so inspired, she lept right out of her chair and made the call to sign up, not doubting for an instant that she wanted to learn to paint. Starting that class opened up a window to a passionate affair with painting that lasted for over a decade. Once a week, she would drive to her class where she would listen to opera music, study the paintings of the masters, and learn about the intricacies of color, light and shadow. Driving home, she began to notice more colors in just about everything: the yellows and reds in the trees, the subtle grays in the water, the purple in the clouds... Her joy grew and she began reading obsessively about painting, absorbing everything like a sponge. Her biggest inspiration during that time was Big Sur itself. She felt slathered in the beauty of the land around her and felt an especially strong tie to Highway One. After living through so many disasters, she realized that the highway is a precious lifeline, an important artery that allowed the community to get to their doctors, to the movies, to their groceries, to just about everything they needed. She fell in love with it, and it was all she wanted to paint: mountains going into the ocean and that beautiful curving highway making its way down the coast. This was a beautiful window in time that surprised her with it’s passion, and opened up her eyes to a whole new way of seeing.
Today, knitting has returned to capture Holly’s heart. She continues to fill our shop with beautiful stripes of color, deftly knitted into cozy pieces. She’s learned a lot on her journey as an artist, and her advice to other creatives is to recognize that creativity comes and goes in waves. Honor wherever it’s coming from and don’t force it. Allow it to put you smack dab in the moment, and simply make do with whatever you have. Pursue what you love, no matter what, and know that you can only get good at things when you just keep doing them. Follow anything that you feel a spark for. Try to keep that spark alive, read everything you can about it, and when you follow it, don’t get hung up on it being one consistent thing. Allow it to vary, recognize that there are nuances and different ways of expressing yourself, and know that all you have to do is just keep going.
Stop by The Phoenix Shop to see the beautiful work of Holly Fassett