Spur c. 1940

This watercolor painting of a spur was made by Robert W.R. Taylor, though we don’t know exactly when. The technique here looks so precise, but it’s also kind of wonky, you know? Like a really careful drawing that somehow went a little off. Look at how Taylor renders the textures and light on the worn leather and aged metal. The brushstrokes are so delicate, building up the forms with thin layers of color. There's a beautiful tension between the sharp, spiky form of the spur itself and the soft, almost blurry handling of the leather strap. See that little circle with a dot in the center on the strap? It's like a tiny sun, catching the light and anchoring the whole composition. It makes me think about how even the smallest details can carry so much weight in a painting. This feels like a cousin to the work of a painter like Joseph Yoakum, who saw the world through a similar lens of meticulous observation and personal vision. Art’s a conversation, right?