❄️Season’s Greetings — A Winter Newsletter from Cult Class

Hi Friends,

This newsletter is packed — from a new art piece and a movie recommendation I loved (The Holdovers), to a disturbing horror pick (The Lodge), a creative lesson inspired by Jocko Willink, and a major milestone: hitting 700K on Instagram. I’m also introducing the Cult Class Postcard Club, and sharing life lately on our farm as we gear up for the holidays.

Let’s get into it!

♡ Caitlyn

🎨 Title: Staying Positive (and Caffeinated) While I Drown

I love the holidays, but there are days when it feels like I’m drowning with a shark circling, waiting for me to take my last breath. That’s exactly the feeling I wanted to capture in this piece. And of course, I had to add coffee, because I don’t think I’d survive without it.

My top holiday movie recommendation—if you haven’t seen it yet—is The Holdovers (2023). It follows a cranky prep school teacher, a stranded student, and the school’s head cook as they’re forced to spend Christmas break together on an empty campus. What starts as resentment slowly turns into a surprisingly tender, funny, and deeply human story. It’s genuinely heartwarming without being cliché, and it just feels real. I think my husband and I might rewatch it tonight!

Okay, we just watched The Lodge (2019) last night, and this one is only for horror fans. It is seriously disturbing—so if unsettling psychological horror isn’t your thing, skip this part. The Lodge is about a soon-to-be stepmom who gets snowed in at a remote winter cabin with her fiancé’s two children over the holidays, and strange, frightening events begin to unfold that draw out past trauma and paranoia as the isolation deepens.

Because I personally studied sociology with a concentration in cults in college, this movie fascinated me. It’s beautifully shot, intensely atmospheric, and honestly a perfect winter watch if you like your scares slow, psychological, and deeply uncomfortable.

Creative Lesson: Discipline Equals Freedom

In the words of Jocko Willink: “Discipline equals freedom.” I live by that. It applies to everything—diet, finances, fitness—but in this case, I’m talking about creative discipline, especially when your art is also your business.

I’ve been sharing my collage work online since 2017, which is wild to think about. Those years have brought incredible opportunities, but they’ve also come with real challenges. One of the biggest was the shift from still images to video on Instagram. I make still art. So suddenly having to invent video content just to stay visible felt exhausting and unnatural. And when that shift happened, my growth stopped. The algorithms changed. My follower count froze. My reach tanked.

I wanted to quit so many times. It’s discouraging to feel like the rules of the game changed overnight.

But discipline equals freedom. And I believe—because I’ve lived it—that if you show up with smart, consistent effort, it eventually pays off. Not immediately. Not as fast as you want. But eventually.

After years of posting—even on the days I didn’t want to—I finally broke through those algorithm walls and started gaining traction again. And today, I hit 700,000 followers on Instagram.

The jump from 600k to 700k took years.

But the point is: discipline equals results. Discipline equals freedom.

Thank you for being here, for supporting my art, and for proving that slow, steady, stubborn persistence still matters in a world obsessed with instant gratification.

In Case You Missed It:
I officially launched The Cult Class Postcard Club.

This monthly subscription directly supports an independent artist, a family-run business, and the small Connecticut farm where every order is printed, signed, and packed by hand.

It’s a fine-art subscription designed for collectors.

Each month, members receive:
– One 4 × 6 inch original fine-art postcard print, created by me
– Printed on acid-free, archival Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Pearl paper for subtle gloss and gallery-quality depth
– A handwritten message about that month’s artwork on the back, personally signed
– One exclusive Cult Class art sticker

If you want to collect my art in a more personal, monthly format—or if you’re looking for a meaningful gift for the new year—The Cult Class Postcard Club is the perfect way to start.

Chilly winter has settled in here in Connecticut, and our little farm is officially in cold-weather mode. We’re incubating our own eggs for the first time, and if all goes well, we’ll be welcoming our own chicks soon!

The hens have grown in their fluffy, winter coats, and Earl, our ever-vigilant rooster, is on duty guarding against the bobcats and coyotes that show up on our trail cams this time of year. The goats, as always, are just supervising from a comfortable distance (a.k.a. hanging out and eating snacks all the time).

We’re enjoying the holiday season. Our little boy, Brooks, is over a year old now and is starting to understand the magic of Christmas. I’m writing One Red Arrow, Part II. And, with my husband’s help, we have packed and shipped all holiday orders. Thank you so much for your support!

There’s something special about the stillness of winter—the quiet mornings, the early sunsets, the feeling of staying in and creating.

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

🖤 Caitlyn