Suffolk Latch c. 1939

Regina Henderer made this watercolor of a Suffolk Latch, that's a door latch, sometime in the 20th century. Look at the almost luminous quality of the paint as it captures the rusty, textured surface of the metal. I wonder, what's it like to be an artist, to fix your gaze so intensely on a single object? I imagine Henderer studying the play of light on the metal, thinking about how to translate the three-dimensional form onto a two-dimensional surface. The handle looks like a piece of rope, twisted into a spiral that beckons your touch. You see the way she's rendered the small details, like the worn edges and tiny holes of the metal plate, giving us the sense of an object with a history. Henderer has not only shown us the object, but also made me think about its use; the quiet intimacy of closing a door. Like other artists, Henderer invites us to pause and consider the beauty in the everyday.