Coverlet Detail c. 1936

Barnes made this quilt detail, sometime between 1855 and 1995, using what looks like coloured thread on cloth. I can imagine Barnes sitting and stitching, the needle a tiny brush, each stitch a deliberate mark. It’s a slow kind of painting, a meditation in texture. Look at how the colours play—the deep blue ground against the rusty oranges and lighter blues. Each shape, built from tiny stitches, vibrates with a life of its own. It reminds me of Paul Klee’s color planes. The repetition of forms and colors suggests a rhythmic quality, like a visual score. What was going through Barnes's head as she worked? Maybe she was thinking about tradition, about family, about warmth and home. Textiles, like paintings, are built from layers of intention and accident, a testament to the artist's hand and heart. We feel connected to them, and to each other, through artmaking.