Herring Weirs 1918

Philip Little made this etching, "Herring Weirs," in 1918. Look at the scratching and the cross-hatching! It’s almost like he’s feeling around in the dark, trying to find the edge of the image with his hands. I can imagine Little standing there, squinting, trying to capture the essence of the water, those wooden structures, the boats, the birds. You know, the smell of the sea, the feeling of the air. His marks remind me of Whistler's, but with a touch more grit. There's a kind of stubbornness here that I appreciate. It's like he's saying, "I'm going to get this down, even if it kills me." These marks are a record of his looking, and now they invite us to look, too. It’s like we’re joining a conversation about seeing and feeling that’s been going on for centuries.