I used to make messes. Big, chalky, painty messes. Now my mess is confined to a cutting mat or small cloth. Maybe growing beyond the chaos of youth, or surviving a failed relationship (or 6), has pushed me into this need to re-create patterns and find structure. Maybe that is why patterns are so prevalent in folk art. The repetition, the mimicry of nature, perhaps brought order and calm to a lifetime filled with a struggle to survive. All those triangles and squares placed ov