Wedding Vest c. 1938

Edna C. Rex made this Wedding Vest, date unknown, but, looking at it, I can imagine her working patiently. The dominant colour is a deep, aged red with these curious wave-like patterns all over. Each one must have taken considerable concentration. What was she thinking as she made each stroke? Did she work from top to bottom or side to side? I imagine the surface, the weave, almost vibrating as her brush moved across it. Around the buttons and pockets, the lines are thinner and darker, more controlled, while the rest feels looser, more intuitive, and less like an exact copy. There’s a real intimacy in the way she has depicted the vest. It reminds me that we, as artists, are all in conversation, echoing and responding to each other across time. Painting is an act of translation, a way of feeling and thinking, so there's always room for multiple voices in the room.