Linear Art Forms
Design for Bedspreads
Eighth, Ninth, Twelfth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Gifts
Stick laying (Eighth Gift), ring laying (Ninth Gift), sewing (Twelfth Gift), slatwork (Fifteenth Gift), jointed slats (Sixteenth Gift) and paper interlacing (Seventeenth Gift) are linear Gifts in the Kindergarten curriculum. All are variations of drawing, by making lines and linear forms in different ways.
The linear Gifts were progressively more abstract in learning and application. Derived from the edges of cubes, triangles and rectangles, lines created using wooden sticks, steel rings, paper strips and slats provide clarity, cleanliness and ease of manipulation. At SAMARA, stick work, in particular, led to the creation of unornamented designs found in the horizontal mortar joints of brick masses, the clean broad and thin lines of board and batten walls, and the sharp edges of shelves, cabinets and bedside stands.
When laid out on grid paper, ring laying is in direct opposition to the rigorous angularity of the rest of the system with their reference back to the sphere and cylinder of the First and Second Gifts. Just like the quarter circle of a steel ring arranged out on grid paper, at SAMARA, the long sweeping arc of the bricked lanai wall stands out against the otherwise right angled structure of the rest of the House.
Sewing on a sheet of grid (graph) paper (Twelfth Gift) allowed young Frank to pass thread through specific points and lines resulting in distinctly patterned designs with precisely measured angles and line segments. By using uniform lengths of various colors of thread, repeated combinations could be reproduced for bedspreads, linens, and table coverings.