Quilt (Section) c. 1936

This is “Quilt (Section)” by Barnes, a watercolor and graphite drawing on paper. The artist maps out a section of quilt design, and what a lovely section it is, with the symmetry of the flowers that draw the eye up and down. I'm thinking about Ruth M. Barnes working on this design. What was she thinking? Was she thinking of the whole quilt, or was she just thinking about this patch? I like how the flowers are kind of wild, like fireworks. I can imagine Barnes dabbing and swirling colors together in a playful way. Maybe she was thinking of all the colors in nature, not just the colors of flowers, but also the colors of leaves and stems. And those leaves along the edges look like a shadow, and the shadow creates the space for the flowers to come alive. And I can imagine someone taking inspiration from this to make a whole quilt, like a conversation between different makers. It's cool how artists are always talking to each other, even across time.