Florale ornamenten c. 1901

Here we see Dijsselhof working out some floral ornaments with what looks like pencil on paper. I can imagine Dijsselhof drawing, taking his time, trying out a few things to find what's right. There is something very intimate about this image. I can imagine him pausing, considering the paper, and then making another line. I like how the pencil on paper gives it all a very soft feeling. These aren't exactly tight forms; instead, they float. The lines are clear, but somehow the whole thing is ethereal, with no hard edges, just gentle shapes, which almost seem to suggest a new way of seeing things. Like you could walk right into them. It makes me think about the history of design, and how we're all, as artists, in an ongoing conversation, influencing one another across time. There's always something new to discover.