"Poke" Bonnet c. 1935 - 1942

Irene Lawson made this hat portrait, "Poke" Bonnet, with watercolor, maybe wishing she could reach through time. Look at how the forms of the hat and ribbons are softly described, like a memory. Lawson uses gentle browns and creams, letting the white of the paper peek through, to give it a light and airy feel. I imagine her, carefully building up the layers, stroke by stroke, considering the weave of the straw, and how the ribbons would drape. There is a lot of intricate, quiet work in this hat and in this painting of a hat; from the tiny fringe at the bottom of the ribbon, to the delicate floral pattern. I love imagining Lawson thinking about how the light falls on each little detail. This feels like the slow, sustained work of someone who loves to look, and who wants us to see what she sees, too.