Stoneware Jar c. 1938

Annie B. Johnston made this stoneware jar out of watercolor on paper. Look at all those layered washes of brown and green! You know, sometimes painting feels like being a detective, piecing together clues, figuring out how to build up this kind of depth and texture. I can imagine Johnston studying the real jar, trying to capture its weight and solidity with just thin layers of pigment. See how she’s built up the darker tones around the base and handle, giving it form, a kind of earthy weight. I wonder what Johnston was thinking as she painted, what she thought about? Maybe she was thinking about how these everyday objects hold stories, like the abstract painters thinking about how each mark holds emotion. There’s something really generous in this kind of close looking, a way of honoring the simple things. And that little bit of red down near the bottom gives it a needed spark, don't you think? It all reminds me that artists are always in conversation with each other, across time and style, learning and building on what came before.