Sleighing Bonnet c. 1941

This 'Sleighing Bonnet' by Lillian Causey seems to have been carefully drawn, probably with watercolor and graphite. The quilting effect is so real, so softly dimensional. I can see it as a process of accumulation, building up these subtle layers of tone and texture. Look at the contrast between the bright pink interior and the muted green exterior. It's a simple choice but it makes the object so inviting, so soft! The surface is smooth, but the quilting gives it a real haptic quality. You can almost feel the padded texture. There's something very tender about that. And down in the corner there’s a small sketch, an earlier idea or a variant of the same object rendered as a line drawing. I'm reminded of the work of the pattern and decoration movement, of people like Robert Kushner, who also celebrated the decorative and the handmade. Art is a conversation, you know? We borrow, we steal, we transform.