Pa. German Dish c. 1936

Jessica Price made this watercolor called Pa. German Dish at an unknown date. It looks like she built it up in layers, letting each one dry before moving on, a slow and loving process. The colors are muted and earthy, pinky browns, leaf greens, and ochre, they evoke the original medium of the real ceramic this is a copy of. The surface of the plate is pale yellow, a creamy surface that shows off the gentle and flowing lines of the decoration. Look at how the dark brown outlines of the flowers waver and change, it shows the hand of the artist, and the give and take of applying paint and pigment to paper. It reminds me a little of the work of Mary Delany, an 18th century artist who made botanical collages out of paper; a similar kind of folk art, a celebration of the everyday, and an appreciation of making something beautiful. Art is a conversation, a visual echo through time, and it's these small acts of attention and care that I think we really respond to.