Some collaborations feel destined long before you name them. This one began a couple of years ago, with two tiny toddlers and a classroom full of love, laughter, and creativity. Before Clover & Clay existed, before wreaths, workshops, and our little studio humming with holiday magic—Stephanie and Joanna first met because their daughters, Ava and Sophie, landed in the same preschool class. And at the center of that class was Sarah, gentle, observant, artistic, quietly brilliant. So when the opportunity arose to collaborate with STU Studio, it felt less like a project and more like returning home to something deeply familiar.
Sarah Tuttle Upson’s creative journey began with dual BFAs in photography and painting from Alfred University, followed by an MFA in photography from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Photography taught her “how to see,” while painting gave her a place to explore feeling through color, texture, and tactility. Raised by artists—a mother who was a visual artist and a father who loved theater and writing, her work naturally holds both quietness and narrative. She has always been drawn to the subtle, in-between moments you catch only when you slow down. The shadow slipping across a sidewalk, the label you glance at but never linger on, the softness of weather-worn color, and the whisper of a shoreline shifting. Her eye is tuned to the overlooked, the ordinary, and the accidental magic of everyday life. That instinct, this slowing down to notice, is what makes this holiday collaboration feel so meaningful.
Each piece in this collection is entirely hand-painted and one-of-a-kind. Nature has always been her conceptual thread; she wanders slowly and lets color present itself rather than forcing it. She responds directly to the form and material of each bag, explaining, “The form of the bag guides the subject I choose to paint… each finished piece has its own personality.” Her graphic inspiration comes from everyday moments such as grocery aisles, hardware stores, packaging, signage, and labels these objects that carry memory and nostalgia. She translates these into bold, simplified, whimsical shapes. She affectionately calls the process her “coffee doodles,” painted while sipping coffee and letting the leather tell her how it wants to move, absorb, resist, or soften. It’s fine art scaled down to something intimate, functional design elevated by human hands, and a gift that feels like a story.
For nearly twenty years, Sarah has been a beloved teacher at Maple Hill Montessori in Redding. Children, she says, create without hesitation, choosing color by instinct and painting without worrying about whether it’s “right.” They remind her daily that art is discovery, not perfection. Teaching has always been part of her artistic life. Before MHM, she taught high school studio art, as well as adult photography. She now runs adult workshops and children’s studio classes year-round. In the summer, she paints large-scale murals with children 4 feet by 16 feet—and in the off-season she downsizes her work to pieces small enough to fit on her lap. No matter the scale, the lesson is the same: follow curiosity with flexibility and fluidity.
Sarah is a gatherer of scraps, textures, old photographs, flea-market finds, bits of fabric, and objects with unknown histories. She groups them, rearranges them, and lets them speak to one another. She watches how light slides across leaves, water, or sky and moves slowly so she can see more. Her artwork feels lived-in, layered, and deeply felt, and these bags are not meant to be saved for special occasions. They are meant to be carried, used, and loved. As she says, “Life should be fun, and so should your fashion.”
For Clover & Clay, this collaboration is personal. It’s rooted in the earliest days of their motherhood, in the art-filled walls of a toddler classroom, and in the gentle hands that helped their daughters discover their own creativity. It’s rooted in community, in the people who shape us, guide us, and remind us to slow down and notice the beauty right in front of us. And it’s rooted in the magic of gifting something with a soul. These pieces are more than accessories; they are tiny canvases of memory and story—holiday gifts made slowly, thoughtfully, and entirely by hand. They remind us that the best gifts are the ones infused with meaning, touched by artists, and carried with love.
