Quilt
Why a Quilt?
Lucinda Carlstrom is a gifted artist. Her medium is paper and fine cloth which she uses to create unique quilted images. My wife, Betsy, and I met Lucinda and bought our first piece of quilt art from her at the Piedmont Art Festival in Atlanta a couple of decades ago. Among the images that Lucinda likes to create are courthouses. Why courthouses? The interest stems from her devotion to traditional quilting designs. One well-known pattern is the "courthouse steps". The "steps" are created by layering progressively shorter pieces of fabric on top of each other and then sewing four of these "step" groupings together to form a quilt square. Lucinda uses these "steps" to anchor her courtroom designs.
Some years ago Betsy asked Lucinda to create a courthouse piece to give me as a birthday gift. It hung in my chamber's reception area and greeted me every morning when I came to work. Today it hangs in my office. It is that piece of art that is on the cover of this book. I selected it because of what it represents. The white "courthouse steps" anchor the piece. They visually direct the viewer to the courthouse door, along the bold, symmetrical columned entrance. The symbolism means a lot. The courthouse holds a special place in our democracy. Courthouses are what citizens enter to seek protection from injustice, aided by lawyers entrusted with the duty to seek fair results for those they represent. Lawyers do so by adhering to a solemn creed of professionalism. The art image on the cover reminds us of this commitment to justice in our democracy.
Luciinda resides in Clayton, Georgia, in the mountains near Lake Burton. She still does special quilt projects. She tells me she has a "great idea for a courthouse special." More about Lucinda's art at www.lucindacarlstrom.com. The website is a bit dated, including her contact information, but the cite provides interesting information about Lucinda and her artistic interests.