[Coverlet - section] c. 1940

Cornelius Christoffels made this section of coverlet sometime in the first half of the 20th century. I can imagine him carefully planning the composition, and executing it with the same skill and precision we see in painting. It is incredible how Cornelius translated the textures of cloth into a flat picture. You know, fabric design is, in a way, like painting – it's all about pattern, rhythm, and how colors play off each other. I bet Cornelius thought about the warp and weft of the fabric in the same way a painter thinks about layering paint, building up the surface, and creating depth. This piece feels so tactile, with its gridded patterns and the subtle tonal shifts. It reminds me of Agnes Martin’s grids or some of those early minimalist textiles. Artists look everywhere and are inspired by all sorts of different things. Painting is just one kind of making, after all. We can all learn something from craft.