Watchman's Rattle 1938

E.J. Gilsleider made Watchman’s Rattle with pencil and watercolour wash, and the artwork is like a quiet hum on paper. I imagine Gilsleider working on this, probably from life, surrounded by objects that fascinated him. It’s a delicate scene, made with love. You can see how he’s thought about the way light falls on this rattle, and I can sense the object’s presence in front of him, and he is totally absorbed in describing what he sees. The soft, sandy wash in the background makes the rattle almost float. And the brown pencil tones? Well, they give this wooden object a warmth that feels really human. There’s something so tender about the way he’s rendered the details, like the carved patterns on the handle. It reminds me of other realist painters, like Fairfield Porter, who found beauty in everyday life. It’s like Gilsleider is showing us that beauty can be found in the simplest of things, if you just take the time to really look.