Prikking vastgeregen op een dubbele lap katoen en met traceerdraden voor het maken van een deel van een kraag van naaldkant c. 1915s

This is a lacemaking design, by a Belgian internee from Village Elisabeth, Amersfoort, fixed onto a double layer of cotton with tracing threads, intended for a collar. You know, my own paintings often start with a simple line, a kind of thread that I pull and tug to see what emerges. The blue cotton here is the ground, and the white thread is the figure, so to speak. I find myself drawn to the star-like flower near the top. It feels so precise, almost architectural, yet it’s made with such humble materials. It reminds me that artmaking isn’t about fancy tools or grand gestures, but about the patient accumulation of small marks, each one building on the last. It makes me think of Hilma af Klint, another artist who worked with geometric forms and symbolic motifs, finding structure within the apparent chaos. This piece is a testament to the quiet power of process, the way that simple acts of repetition can lead to something intricate and beautiful.