Waffle Iron 1935 - 1942

This drawing of a Waffle Iron was made by Ardella Watkins, who was born in 1855, using what looks like graphite and watercolor on paper. I can imagine Ardella, with the waffle iron in front of her, carefully observing the object’s forms. She may have been thinking about the waffle iron’s purpose and its place in everyday life. I love how she used gentle washes to capture the texture and tonal variation of the metal and its concentric circles. There’s a lot of care here. Watkins doesn't only give us an illusion of the object, but she makes it so that we consider its purpose and role in a specific time and place. She prompts us to ask: who used this waffle iron and what was their life like? It reminds me of a drawing by another artist, maybe a Wayne Thiebaud, who prompts us to think about everyday objects in new ways.