Handwoven Coverlet c. 1937

This Handwoven Coverlet, was made by Cornelius Christoffels, and it's such a beautiful example of how process can be art. It's not just about the final image, but all the tiny decisions, all the little crosses that build up to the big picture. The red stitches pop against the neutral ground and there's something so satisfying about the texture, you can almost feel the bumps and ridges of the thread. Look how the leaves and flowers wrap around each other, connected but distinct, each stitch a tiny gesture, a mark of intention. It reminds me a bit of the way Agnes Martin used grids, not as a rigid structure, but as a framework for improvisation, for finding freedom within constraints. It's easy to get caught up in looking for symbolism, but maybe the point is simply the doing. The hours spent, the quiet rhythm of needle and thread, the slow accumulation of marks. That's where the real meaning lies, not in any grand narrative, but in the humble act of making.