Quilt 1937

This quilt by J. Howard Iams is, well, quaint. It’s got this soft, almost faded palette of greens, reds, and pinks, and is made with a drawing medium on paper. I can just imagine the artist sketching this out, carefully planning each geometric shape and decorative flourish. It's like a map of coziness, right? I mean, imagine Iams lost in thought, maybe dreaming of cold winter nights snuggled under a heavy quilt, translating that feeling into this design. It’s interesting how the feather-like pattern in the corner contrasts with the sharp angles of the star. It’s a bit like Ellsworth Kelly meets your grandma’s sewing circle. What Iams shares with other painters is an interest in the formal qualities of the medium: in this case, he is exploring the surface pattern through line. The history of painting is a conversation, and Iams' quilt adds another layer of texture to that ongoing dialogue. It's about repetition, variation, and finding beauty in the everyday.