Music of the Jaguar 1977

Alice Baber created this painting with watercolor washes in dreamy shades of pink, yellow, and blue. Just imagine her in the studio, brush in hand, coaxing these colors into being, almost like they’re breathing on the canvas! I bet Alice was deeply immersed in the act of painting itself, and I wonder what she was thinking as she made it. The watercolor’s so thin, it almost feels like she’s staining the canvas, letting the colors seep and blend, and the brushstrokes themselves are delicate, floating on the surface. See how the colors overlap and interact? It feels like a dance of light and color, like she’s capturing a fleeting moment, a whisper of a feeling. Baber was part of a generation of abstract painters exploring color and form, riffing off the ideas of artists like Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis. It’s all one big conversation, across time, inspiring each other’s creativity. Painting is like that – always open to new interpretations, new meanings, and new ways of seeing the world.