Doll - "Amelia" c. 1937

Eugene Croe painted this image of 'Amelia' the doll in watercolor, probably sometime in the middle of the twentieth century. It's all about layering here, like building up a character, or a painting, one step at a time. I love how the surface sings with different textures. See how Croe plays with the fabric of Amelia’s dress, a riot of tiny red flowers on pink stripes. It's so delicate, almost like he’s trying to capture the essence of the material itself. The lace trim peeking out from under the skirt, rendered in painstaking detail, contrasts so nicely with the smooth, almost porcelain-like finish of her face. It feels like a meditation on craft, on the pleasure of making something beautiful and intricate by hand. It reminds me of other artists like Red Grooms, who also find beauty in the everyday, in the quirky and the handmade. Art is a conversation, after all, and Croe's 'Amelia' feels like a particularly charming contribution.