Churn c. 1939

Aaron Fastovsky made this drawing of a butter churn, we don’t know when. The way he’s rendered the churn, there’s a real focus on the process, the craft of making and the labor of using the object. Fastovsky’s use of watercolor brings out the texture of the wooden tool. It’s a beautiful rendering, paying close attention to the different tones within the wood, using the grain to emphasize the form. You can really feel the weight of it. Look at where the handle meets the base. It’s not just a straight line; there’s this gnarly, organic connection. It makes me think about how art is like butter churning, a repetitive process that slowly transforms something into something else. Like Warhol’s soup cans or Dutch still life painting, Fastovsky elevates something mundane into something meditative. It’s like, he’s not just showing us a churn, he’s showing us how to see.