Crazy Quilt Stitches c. 1937

William Kieckhofel made "Crazy Quilt Stitches," a drawing, probably in the late 20th Century. Looking at it, I’m struck by the neatness, the way it seems like a manual or set of instructions. The texture here is all implied, but you can see the hand at work. The repeating marks, the changes in color, how they create these wonderful rhythms that move your eye up and down the page. There's one row, in the central column, where yellow and green interlock forming diamond shapes, it makes me think of the work of an artist like Paul Klee. What’s so interesting is how something so seemingly functional can also be so visually playful. You can see the artist having fun with the medium, exploring the possibilities of color and line. It reminds me that art is as much about the process as it is about the final product. It’s this back-and-forth between intention and intuition that makes the work so engaging.