Pilot House Ornament c. 1939

Mary E. Humes made this ‘Pilot House Ornament’ watercolour somewhere, sometime. It's like she's tenderly tracing the lines of a sculpture – maybe an architectural ornament – and you sense her admiration in every brushstroke. Look at how she meticulously renders the cracks in the face, each line a whisper of age and history. I feel as if Mary is thinking about the person who originally made it, and even empathizing with the carver’s hands, tools, and creative decisions. It's an act of preservation, a way of holding onto something before it fades away. I think she's saying: this object is a part of me. The blue of the uniform is so solid and sure, like she’s anchoring the figure in place. In this work, Humes shows us that we are all connected through craft and history.