Ontwerpen voor het onderstel van een tafel c. 1906

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made this design for a table base with pencil on paper. The underdrawing is like a spiderweb, a cat's cradle of potential. I like to imagine Cachet sitting with this page, turning it this way and that, letting the possibilities emerge. It reminds me of the way I sketch when I'm trying to work through a problem in a painting. There are all these variations, like he's not quite sure which way to go. The flourishes remind me of Art Nouveau, that exuberant, almost excessive style. You can sense his mind working, his hand searching for the perfect balance between function and decoration. What is so exciting is how one drawing can trigger the next; it's like they are all having a conversation. The slight smudges and erasures tell a story of their own. There is no beginning and no end, just the messy, beautiful process of trying to figure something out. And that's something I can really relate to as a painter.