Murex denudatus Possibly 1962

Charles Arthur Wells Jr. made this image of a shell at an unknown date using etching. Look at how the shell hovers on the surface of the paper! A lot of the etching is super-fine, almost like it’s trying to disappear, while other parts are really dark and textured. I can imagine him bent over a copper plate, using a sharp needle to create the image, building it up slowly, line by line. What was he thinking when he made it? Was he marveling at the shell’s geometry? Was he trying to capture the way light plays on its surface? The shell is so spiky, the etching gives it a tactile feel, like you could reach out and touch it. The work reminds me of the still lifes of Giorgio Morandi, another artist who found endless inspiration in simple, everyday objects. Artists like Wells and Morandi show us that painting and printmaking is not just about capturing the world, but about slowing down and really seeing it.