Mug c. 1937

John Dana made this watercolor painting of a mug, and you know, it kind of reminds me that everything can be a subject for art! Here's a clear glass mug, the kind you might find in a simple home, and Dana's given it these adorable painted decorations: little flowers, a town, and stripes in red and yellow. I can almost feel the artist's hand carefully rendering the reflections on the glass, trying to capture the essence of this everyday object. Maybe he just liked the way the light hit it one afternoon, or maybe he found joy in the simple act of observing. It makes me wonder what he was thinking while he painted. Did he imagine someone using this mug? Did he think about its history, or the stories it could hold? He probably looked at a lot of mugs. I bet he knew mugs. In this way, art connects us, not just to the object, but to the artist’s experience.