Silver Ink Stand c. 1936

John Dixon made this watercolour, ‘Silver Ink Stand,’ in the late 18th, early 19th century. I can see Dixon grappling with how to depict metal with watercolour, imagining the delicate dance of light on those silver surfaces. The puddling of greys and violets and browns suggests the reflections of the room around it. I know the problem of depicting reflective surfaces, that question of: ‘how do I make this look like *that*?’ It is a real headache. I get a sense of the artist wrestling with the liquid medium, trying to capture the solidness of the ink stand. I wonder if Dixon was as happy as he could be with the end result? He was probably chasing the same will-o'-the-wisp as the rest of us! It's a very different process, of course, but what connects us as artists is that we’re all in a constant conversation. Each of us builds on the work of those who came before us, finding new ways to express ourselves and see the world. And that is what makes painting such a rich and enduring art form.