Miner's Cart c. 1937

Frank Eiseman made this watercolor, Miner’s Cart, sometime before 1960. Look closely at the way Eiseman renders the wood. There’s so much attention to the texture of the grain. It’s not just about depicting a cart, but about the act of describing the material. You can feel the saw marks and the roughness of the wood beneath your fingertips, right? The color palette is limited, almost monochromatic, with subtle variations in tone that give depth to the wooden structure. See how the light catches the edges and surfaces? And then there’s the rock. It's like a jewel, but a rough, unrefined one. That crinkled surface is so different from the smooth grain of the wood. Eiseman’s piece reminds me a bit of Charles Burchfield’s watercolors. Both were interested in the poetry of everyday life. It makes you think about the way artists find beauty in the mundane. It’s not about perfection; it’s about seeing the world with fresh eyes.