Ornamenten met vissen, ruiten en een hart uit Calabar c. 1916 - 1945

This page of sketchbook drawings, "Ornamenten met vissen, ruiten en een hart uit Calabar," was made with pencil by Reijer Stolk. I can just see the artist hunched over this page, working out some ideas… There are these lozenge shapes, some circles and squares, and a peculiar fish that looks like it has wings. The lines are tentative but precise, like Stolk is thinking through his pen, mapping out a world of shapes and symbols, making notes on colors. It reminds me of my own process, when writing is like drawing, thinking aloud with a pen. Sometimes, a line will turn into a shape, and the shape suggests something else, and then there is this sort of back-and-forth, like the images are talking to each other. I wonder what Stolk wanted to remember; what did he see? Artists are always building on each other's ideas. One person makes a mark, and another sees something in it, and the conversation goes on.