Luisa Capetillo if the fourth subject in my “Look Her Up” Needlepoint series. As in the past, the piece gives hints to the woman’s life, but my hope is that they will lead you to “look her up” to discover more about her life and her work. Use the internet, books, research collections. . . anything your heart desires.

          Here are some of the clues in the piece. Capetillo was a well-known Puerto Rican anarchist and labor leader. My use of reds and dark shades of gray (rather than black) for the letters is symbolic of the anarchist movement. The quote reflects her feminist leanings. I chose it on the day the U.S. Supreme Court negated Roe v. Wade, so the quote shows as much about my own feelings as Capetillo’s about her times. As three of the figures show, Capetillo wore pants, often men’s jackets, shirts, and hats. For wearing pants in public, she was arrested in both Puerto Rico and Cuba. The “FLN” on the poster stands for (in translation to English) the Free Federation of Workers. Capetillo often worked as a reader in cigar factories. You may find a description of her job most interesting. The border of the piece includes the Puerto Rican flag and the slogan for those supporting a free and independent Puerto Rico. The green figures represent the coqui, the Puerto Rican tree frog and the orange figure, the Taino Indian symbol for the sun.

          I have begun work on my fifth “Look Her Up” piece which I hope to complete sometime in 2023. In the meantime, here’s wishing you all a Happy Solstice and New Year.