Wooden Cradle c. 1938

Edmond Lorts made this watercolor drawing of a wooden cradle sometime around the late 19th or early 20th century. Just looking at it, I can imagine the artist carefully layering the washes of brown and tan, trying to capture the play of light on the wooden surface. I’m thinking about the artist and what they might have been thinking when they made it. I imagine Edmond must have paused every now and then, holding up his brush to contemplate the next stroke. Look how the watercolor seeps into the paper. You can almost feel the texture of the wood, the subtle grain patterns. And those curved rockers! There is a sense of depth and volume to it, even though it's just a drawing on a flat surface. This drawing reminds me of other artists who have been drawn to everyday objects, like Van Gogh’s chair, for example. There’s an intimacy to it. Artists are in conversation across time. They’re always inspiring each other's creativity. Painting is like that, an embodied expression which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.