Pa. German Chalkware Mantel Ornament c. 1938

Inez McCombs made this rendering of a Pa. German Chalkware Mantel Ornament in watercolor sometime in the 20th century, building up washes in layers. There's something about the way she's built up the image with these translucent applications of color that's so appealing to me. You can really see the handmade process. I love how the fruit almost glows, like it has an inner light source. It’s as if she wanted to capture not just the colors and shapes of these objects, but also their essence, their spirit. I keep looking at that little red fruit right at the top, it is more of a suggestion of a fruit, with an almost cartoonish ring around the edge, a dark focal point that somehow holds the whole image together. This piece reminds me a bit of the work of Florine Stettheimer, who used a similar color palette and a delicate, almost ethereal touch. Both artists embrace the quirky and whimsical, finding beauty in the unexpected. For me, these kinds of images are all about possibility, they give us permission to see the world in new and exciting ways.