Stoneware Jar c. 1937

This Stoneware Jar was drawn by Richard Barnett, but it could be any time, really. Barnett died in 1995, but this feels somehow much older… It's like a historical echo, a way of keeping something alive. Look at those marks, that blue! They're so deliberate, so careful, yet they still have this looseness. I can just imagine Barnett, sitting there, turning the jar, slowly, figuring out how to get that design just right. What was he thinking about as he painted each leaf, each tendril? Was he thinking about the potter? About the person who would eventually use the jar? Did he ever use it himself? It seems somehow useful and decorative at once! You know, painting is like a conversation across time. Barnett might have been influenced by the design of this jar, but his version of it will go on to influence someone else, maybe in ways we can't even imagine yet. It’s all just one big, messy, beautiful conversation that never really ends.