Miniature Basket c. 1936

Grace Halpin created this drawing of a miniature basket, we think, sometime in the twentieth century, using ink and watercolor on paper. Look at this drawing, and you can see how Halpin seems to be building up a kind of structure, line by line. It reminds me of a painter slowly constructing a form, carefully placing each brushstroke to create something solid yet delicate. The cross-hatching feels so controlled, and yet there's something kind of whimsical in the color choices, those little flower details, they give it this folk-art charm. I wonder what she was thinking about as she made this? Was it a memory of a beloved object? A meditation on craft? I’m moved by this drawing because it speaks to the quiet, thoughtful art of observation and the pleasure found in the process of making. Artists, like Halpin, continue to inspire us to see the world in new ways.