Jacket c. 1937

Lillian Causey made this study of a jacket in watercolor. The jacket itself is a ghostly white; Causey’s jacket feels caught between dimensions. I imagine Lillian, leaning in close, her hand moving with precise deliberation, tracing the frills and buttons of this pristine garment. Maybe she was thinking about the child who might have worn this jacket. Or perhaps she was simply drawn to the challenge of capturing such a delicate object on paper. I wonder if she saw the jacket as a kind of puzzle to be solved through observation and careful rendering. Each line, each carefully placed shade, building a quiet sense of depth. The back view, with its simplified form, reminds us of the artist's hand at work, abstracting reality into essential shapes and lines. It makes me think of the endless possibilities of art making. We build upon one another’s ideas, don’t we? We play with each other's marks.