Griot Designs

Griot Designs Griot Designs offers jewelry, accessories, clothing, greeting cards, and original artwork made of rec

To celebrate the Jiha Moon: Collection Reframed exhibit at Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, last night, guests experienced...
09/10/2026

To celebrate the Jiha Moon: Collection Reframed exhibit at Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, last night, guests experienced a party on the plaza with a K-Pop DJ, Korean tea drinks, and the opportunity to decorate their own Asian takeout container.

As part of the exhibit, S. Korean artist Jiha Moon has created a ceramic version of the takeout container that is in the exhibit. I created these two examples for guests to use as inspiration. I get to do art while working, which is so dope.

I am SAFE. I am SIGNIFICANT. I am LOVEABLE.I am ENOUGH.I MATTER. I have said this mantra daily since June 30, 2026. I ca...
08/07/2026

I am SAFE.
I am SIGNIFICANT.
I am LOVEABLE.
I am ENOUGH.
I MATTER.

I have said this mantra daily since June 30, 2026. I came across it through an online seminar called "Brain: Rewire Your Mind for Healing" with Dr. Gabor Maté. In the short time I have been following his instructions, I am noticing how I am responding to words and actions slightly differently in my body and mind.

Today, my 53rd birthday, has been a test of how much I have grown and how much less stressed my body is in comparison to my last birthday. I have spent 99% of my life not feeling truly loved, as love was transactional and conditional as a child, beginning in my childhood house.

Text messages began to come from overseas late last night. People have taken time to send voice notes and to call me. I was on the phone with one of my oldest friends for over three hours this morning. I can hear the love without resistance or deflection. That's huge growth for me! I was even able to reply to some in real time.

Yesterday a coworker asked what I wanted for my birthday. I had no answer. No one has ever asked me that question in decades. I know it sounds crazy, but it is true.

As I prepare for a dinner with people I specifically chose due to how they have cared for my heart and soul in ways and at times I did not know I needed, knowing I am working hard to not hurt people anymore because I hurt, I can say I want to be a safe space that I did not think I had until I began my healing journey.

I need to pay someone to install a few electronics into the Sidala Learning Lounge. I want picture frames to put up artwork and info in the space for inspiration and education. If you would like to support this as I prepare an official launch next month, I will gladly accept donations. If you want to collaborate with teaching, mentoring, or offering a service to the black community for intergenerational dialogue, healing, and education, please hit me up asap. I am officially opening Labor Day weekend.

Zelle: my phone number (Inbox me if you do not have it).
Cash App: $GriotDesignsbyKKT
Venmo:
PayPal: [email protected]

This is the first piece I wove last week during my Taproot Artist Residency Intensive with the NCCJC Collective. I worke...
07/29/2026

This is the first piece I wove last week during my Taproot Artist Residency Intensive with the NCCJC Collective. I worked out my feelings in this piece, feeling torn, tattered, and tossed away. My life felt messy before my arrival, so I had to work it out through my hands on the loom before diving into group learning and activities.

The fabric was designed by Maura Bosbyshell Maura Kelly Bosbyshell. It's gorgeous and seems to be degrading to tear it into fabric yarn, but it best captures how my heart has felt for the past few weeks.

Now I have to figure out how I am going to finish it. Should I mount it to a canvas, natural material, or frame? Tell me in the comments.

Last week at the NCCJC Collective 2026-27 Taproot Artist Residency Intensive, I found my people. I was in community with...
07/29/2026

Last week at the NCCJC Collective 2026-27 Taproot Artist Residency Intensive, I found my people. I was in community with people who took care of each other and had some of the best conversations. Our moderators created a safe space for idea exchange, to speak candidly from our hearts, and incorporate inner resilience as part of our schedule.

This time was transformative for my psyche and art career. I felt genuinely safe in my body for the first time since I was seven years old. I was able to weave for the first time in a year. Sitting in silence in a field of grass or by the side of the creek at Lake Logan Retreat was the medicine I needed.

I am grateful that the twelve of us are now equipped with knowledge and charged to teach and promote the issues and solutions regarding climate injustice. This is in direct alignment with my art practice of using found and recovered objects to create art. It will be my privilege to serve the first and most impacted citizens of NC in creating a better living environment.

Yesterday would have been my Grandma Katie's 96th birthday. I often burst into tears because I see her in everything-my ...
07/28/2026

Yesterday would have been my Grandma Katie's 96th birthday. I often burst into tears because I see her in everything-my nose, cheeks, forehead, hands, ankles, love for textiles, cooking, love for Pepsi, penchant for a good salad, thrifting, and so many other things I innately acquired and learned from her.

As I have done almost every year since I left Statesville for college, I had a hot dog in her honor, as that was the meal we loved to share. We ate hot dogs at the Woolworth's restaurant in Signal Hill Mall or Hardee's often.

Soon after she passed in April and I learned she had kept every letter and postcard I wrote her. I sat on the couch to pray for her and have a conversation. When I opened my eyes, there was a female cardinal on the fence looking at me intensely. It sat there without moving for 2-3 minutes. I knew that was Grandma Katie, so this bird is my sign for her. Happy Birthday, Grandma Katie, sew beautiful a lady.

1. Her 80th birthday
2. Grandma and I after picking pokeweed to make poke salad
3. The first time I visited her and paw-paw from Germany
4. Grandma and I at her 80th bday party
5. What'all know about Glamour Shots?
6. Grandma could cut a rug, and she taught me how to do so.
7. Grandma was a seamstress. She made this sharp suit.
8. Hey, Grandma Irene, to her left. I had THREE grandmas. So blessed!
9. Four of these ladies meant so much to me. L to R: Aunt Mary, Mrs. Alma Gene (her neighbor for over 65 years who passed two weeks after she did), and Aunt Sadie on the end (my tied favorite great aunt)
10. One of my favs! Gorgeous.💚
11. Grandma and Mrs Alma Gene
12. That lovely smile!

A look into today's activities at the NCCJC Collective Taproot Artist Residency Intensive at Lake Logan, NC. 1. A young ...
07/24/2026

A look into today's activities at the NCCJC Collective Taproot Artist Residency Intensive at Lake Logan, NC.

1. A young deer snacking while I was enjoying an oatmeal cookie

2. A mountain I meditated to during a walk

3. If my Grandma Katie were here, we would pick and cook poke salad.

4. Some of my cohort enjoying the lake.

5. My setup to weave

6. The start of my weaving

This Taproot Artist Residency Intensive with NCCJC Collective has been intense, in a VERY good way. Last December when I...
07/23/2026

This Taproot Artist Residency Intensive with NCCJC Collective has been intense, in a VERY good way. Last December when I placed my business on slow down mode (which is still its status), I asked God/dess for opportunities to learn and be poured into for balance in my life. As the rain pours onto us in these mountains, many blessings and ancestral signs are being poured onto and into me. BIG attititude of gratitude! 💚🙏🏾🫶🏾

1. View from the main lodge porch this afternoon during our inner resilience time. Porches are my happy places.

2. A recipe for Black Joy Stew my group developed when re-imagining a balanced planet

3. The 4 R's of advocacy, organizing, and activism we learned yesterday

4. My porch time yesterday afternoon

5. The sun coming down over the mountain at dinner...aka 2nd lunch or "s-lunch" LOL

6. A leaf near a bald eagle nest I found

7. Is my Aunt Alice in the dining hall kitchen? She taught my mother how to make green pea salad and it was a summertime fav of my childhood.

8. Tapestry I started at midnight of the side of a mountain I saw on the way here

9-11. My current view

12. I didn't weave after all. I journaled for almost 1.5 hours.

I made it to Lake Logan to begin my Taproot Artist Residency with NCCJC. I am grateful and excited to expand my current ...
07/21/2026

I made it to Lake Logan to begin my Taproot Artist Residency with NCCJC. I am grateful and excited to expand my current practice of using my art to bring attention to global warming and climate injustice through learning cultural organizing, political education, and social justice.

Though I have not been making art much lately, I have still been involved in it. Earlier this month, I had the privilege...
07/20/2026

Though I have not been making art much lately, I have still been involved in it. Earlier this month, I had the privilege of being on a staff tour with an artist and art educator, Jiha Moon Jiha Moon 문지하. Her work is on display along with permanent collection works she selected at Bechtler Museum of Modern Art Museum.

Jiha selected works featuring women and looks at how women see themselves in art. I have learned quite a bit about South Korean culture. It's amazing how people halfway around the world have similar cultural references.

Visit the Bechtler to see for yourself.

SN: The museum is FREE and open from 5 pm to 9 pm on Wednesdays. Last entry is at 8:15 pm.

I am excited to announce that I am a 2026-2027 TapRoot Artist in Residence with NCCJC. I will be spending five days in t...
07/07/2026

I am excited to announce that I am a 2026-2027 TapRoot Artist in Residence with NCCJC. I will be spending five days in the NC mountains learning how I can further my art practice to bring awareness and hopefully change to climate injustice.

My art practice centers around climate injustice as I grew up on a former landfill less than a quarter mile from a metal recycling plant. I have suffered and witnessed the negative health impact, so I am extremely honored that this is my first artist residency. I look forward to meeting the team and fellow artists as we collaboratively work to use art as a vehicle for transformation.

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Charlotte, NC
28213

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