Powder Box c. 1936

Florence Stevenson, who lived a long life between 1855 and 1955, painted this powder box in watercolour. The box is a muted blue, adorned with a delicate white floral design. I imagine Stevenson carefully mixing her paints, testing the consistency, maybe adding a touch more water. There's a lovely subtlety in the way she's rendered the light playing on the surface of the box. The paint is thin and translucent, allowing the paper to breathe through. See how the gentle shading gives the form a real sense of depth and weight. It’s as though I could reach out and touch it! Painters have always looked to each other, borrowing and riffing on ideas. Looking at this reminds me of Morandi's still lifes, the way he reduced objects to their essential forms. Stevenson and Morandi, separated by time and geography, in conversation with each other. Painting really becomes this ongoing exchange of ideas, and that's the beauty of it. There's no one right way, just endless possibilities and interpretations.