Quart Stoneware Preserving Jar c. 1941

George V. Vezolles made this watercolor of a jar, but when? The image speaks to something so fundamental about our need to preserve, to hold onto things. I can imagine George carefully layering the washes of color, coaxing the cylindrical form into being. The wavy blue lines, how carefully they undulate around the surface – they're like a gentle hug for whatever’s inside. It’s not just about representation, it’s about conjuring a feeling, an atmosphere. Seeing this makes me think of the work of Giorgio Morandi, those humble still lifes of bottles, where the act of painting transforms the ordinary into something meditative. Both invite us to slow down, to contemplate the beauty in the everyday, in the vessels that contain our lives.