Wooden Cabinet Doors c. 1939

These cabinet doors were drawn by Rose Campbell-Gerke, but we don’t know exactly when. It's like she's teasing out the layers of time with her rendering of flaking paint. Look at the surface – it’s all about the tension between the flat plane of the paper and the illusion of depth and texture. The paint isn’t thick, it's more like washes of color, allowing the grain of the wood to peek through. I love the way the light catches the edges of those diamond shapes, suggesting a history of use. It's as if each imperfection tells a story. The hinges are meticulously rendered, anchoring the doors in reality while the peeling paint hints at something more ephemeral. Campbell-Gerke’s work reminds me a little of Charles Burchfield's watercolors. Both artists find beauty in the mundane, elevating everyday objects to something almost mystical. Art isn’t about answers, it’s about the questions we ask, the stories we imagine.