Boekenlegger in blauw met gebatikt patroon, waaronder een boommotief in de puntige uiteinden before 1909

This is a batik bookmark in blue with a tree motif by Willem Karel Rees. The cool, muted palette and repeated, stylized patterns of flowers and trees feel really calming, don't they? It's the kind of piece that makes you think about slowing down, about process and meditation. The cloth has a lovely texture, a kind of dappled surface that suggests the wax-resist process of batik. Look closely, and you can see how the dye has pooled and cracked in certain areas, creating these beautiful, irregular effects. The tree at either end anchors the image, and the repeating flowers seem to create a field of interconnected forms. It's a landscape, but also an abstraction; nature, but seen through a filter of human design. This kind of pattern-making reminds me of the work of Hilma af Klint, another artist who was interested in the spiritual dimensions of form. Both artists seem to be reaching for something beyond the visible world, using art to tap into deeper currents of meaning.