Hide Stretcher c. 1938

George Bobholz made this watercolour painting, Hide Stretcher, and he’s working with a restricted palette; earth tones, browns, and creams. It makes me think of how we choose to see the world, focusing on the details, almost like a scientific study. The colours here are very matte and kind of thin, laid down in a way that’s almost casual, yet deliberate. The texture isn’t about thick globs of paint, but more about the subtle variations in tone that describe the form. Look closely, and you can see the artist's hand in the way the pigment settles into the paper, creating these soft, almost blurred edges. Note also the cross etched onto the face of the wooden tool. It is off-centre. There is something very satisfying about this decision. This feels like looking at something familiar in a new way, like those Wayne Thiebaud paintings of cakes and pies that manage to find the sublime in the everyday. Bobholz reminds us that art can be about seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary, stretching our perception and appreciation.