Iron Gate and Fence c. 1936

Ray Price made this watercolour drawing of an Iron Gate and Fence sometime in his long lifetime. Look at that thin wash of blue! It’s like he barely touched the paper, letting the fence emerge from the white ground. I imagine him outside, squinting in the sun, maybe perched on a small folding stool. He's trying to capture not just the look of the ironwork, but also the feel of it - the solid, grounded quality of metal against the ephemeral light. The curly flourishes and sharp points suggest a kind of protection, or maybe a barrier. It’s interesting how Ray plays with this tension, softening the iron’s coldness with those delicate, flowing lines. It reminds me of other artists, like Cy Twombly, who also find beauty in the everyday, transforming simple observations into complex statements about seeing and feeling. There’s a real conversation happening here, across time and mediums.