Patchwork Quilt 1935 - 1942

This Patchwork Quilt drawing by Edmond W. Brown uses a lot of red, and that makes me think about how it came to be. Imagine the meticulous work, the shifting and emerging patterns coming into being through intuition. I sympathize with Brown, wondering what he thought as he made this. Maybe about the tradition of quilting and how it connects people, or maybe he just got lost in the repetition of shapes. The surface shows the physical act of drawing, but the texture is all in the suggestion of the thing—the quilting—itself. Look at the repeating bird motif around the edge. To me, it suggests movement. Artists are always in conversation, you know? I think about the quilts made by the women of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, and how their improvisational patterns speak to a long lineage of creativity. This drawing reminds us that art-making is an embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and allowing multiple interpretations. It's about the ongoing exchange of ideas, inspiring creativity across time.