Patchwork is my anti-war book — a immediate response to the war which has dominated the news for the past year, although it has its roots in a more distant past, for number of the images were culled from sketches and paintings done over many years, a number of them in response to other wars and catastrophes. Others, from an archive of unused work, unexpectedly found their rightful place here, for their evocation of sorrow.

Recently I had also been mulling the idea of doing a book incorporating the pieces of a patchwork quilt into the narrative. I  hadn’t expected it to be this one, but once I had begun putting together the illustrations for this book, it came to me that the quilt could serve to connect and unify them. I’ve always loved quilts, but as I lack the necessary sewing skills, I have never made one. Using real fabrics and cutouts, I collaged an imaginary one.

The quilt in Patchwork is also meant to speak, without words, of a means of remembrance and healing.