While I was researching the techniques of chintz, I came across a kalamkari floorspread from c. 1630 at the V&A. It was drawn in a style I particularly liked, and I snapped some quick pictures to study further. When I began looking through my images, I noticed these curious little cloud figurations around the main subjects, many only about the size of a fingernail. A few looked like the Chinese scroll clouds I was familiar with, but many of them had morphed to have appendages and secondary clouds attached. They were charming little beings hiding in the background, and I began to think of them as stand-ins for the artisans who made the cloth.