Crock c. 1938

Curator: Looking at this, I’m immediately transported back to simpler times. It’s “Crock,” a mixed-media drawing including watercolor, charcoal, and colored pencil, created around 1938 by John Tarantino. It’s like a snapshot of a memory, isn’t it? Editor: Absolutely. The subject matter, an aged, perhaps even beloved crock, speaks volumes about folk art. The blue images painted onto it are charming, in a primitive way. What's most striking is the clear contrast between this robust pottery shape and those soft, faded watercolor tones. It's a visual echo of functionality meeting whimsy. Curator: It almost whispers stories of preservation—of both food and tradition. That rustic depiction of the woman, what does it say to you? Editor: It feels archetypal, doesn’t it? She has echoes of Mother Earth, bearing gifts, watching over the home, connecting us to nature, but it’s not grand, right? More personal, part of the decoration in ordinary household life, humble and utilitarian yet enlivened by human touch and narrative. Curator: I can't help but imagine that each of these details are so deliberately placed—the "6" etched near the top, for example. Are these markers that give the Crock a sense of history and maybe mark something special about it. Editor: Possibly a volume marker, to identify what and how much was put in? Perhaps. These weren't necessarily decorative elements, so much as everyday marks meant for the family. It makes me wonder about how utilitarian objects can accidentally become relics infused with meaning over time. Curator: So beautifully said. I suppose it's also worth appreciating the artist’s medium choices, to preserve in mixed media on paper this common kitchen item for posterity. How very lovely. Editor: I agree, a quiet but heartfelt reminder of beauty in the mundane. We can learn a great deal about a society simply from examining what its people valued and chose to immortalize, even an ordinary Crock like this one. Curator: So true! This trip through one artwork can remind us about how symbols are a living thread in cultural tapestries. Editor: Definitely a reminder of folk traditions. A snapshot of how human touch elevates the ordinary into something profoundly beautiful.