Well with Movable Beam c. 1937

Majel G. Claflin made this watercolor painting of a well with movable beam at an unknown date. The way Claflin uses color here is so muted, almost like a memory. It’s as if the wood and metal are slowly returning to the earth. The whole scene is rendered with such care, you can almost feel the weight of the wooden beam and the tension in that tightly wound rope. Look closely at the platform; see how the planks are uneven, slightly warped? That kind of attention to detail really brings the scene to life. It reminds me of some of Charles Sheeler’s more realist works. But where Sheeler focuses on the clean lines of industrial design, Claflin finds beauty in the everyday, in the simple mechanics of rural life. And like all good art, it’s not just about what you see, but what you feel. Claflin invites us to contemplate the ingenuity and resourcefulness of a bygone era.