Branding Iron c. 1942

Eugene Upton made this watercolor painting of branding irons. Look at the texture he’s created with the paint, and imagine the physical act of applying washes of color to describe rusted metal. I can imagine Upton, brush in hand, carefully observing these objects, trying to capture their weight and form. What was he thinking about when he painted them? Was he interested in the history of the branding irons? The labor they represent? There’s something about the attention to detail, the way the light catches on the edges, that makes the painting feel so real and immediate. It makes me think of other artists who find beauty in the everyday, like Giorgio Morandi. Painters are always in conversation, aren’t they? We're all trying to figure out how to make sense of the world, one brushstroke at a time.