Jak 1930 - 1940

This is "Jak," a child’s sailor top by W. Rowe. The fabric and thread were pulled and woven, cut, and carefully sewn together. I wonder what it was like to make this. It's a far cry from the way things are made now. Did the person making this have children of their own? I think about the relationship between the top's maker and the child who wore it. The black stripes along the collar and hem, so neatly stitched. Did the maker think about the waves as they stitched? I wonder what the child felt like wearing this, playing, and running around. How worn and soft the material must have been. It’s a symbol of childhood, like so many things we hold onto. It's a feeling, really, something like the warmth of holding a memory in your hands. In the studio, so much of painting for me is about this same connection, this sense of remembering and exchange.