Sugar Bowl c. 1936

John Dana conjured this "Sugar Bowl" with watercolor, a medium known for its delicate washes and transparent layers. The whole thing is blue. I like how it shimmers, like he’s captured the ghost of a sugar bowl, not the thing itself. I wonder if he was thinking of the ocean while making it, a big blue sugar bowl, if you will. It’s funny how artists can take something as ordinary as a sugar bowl and make it totally new again. Painting is like that, it gives us new ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world. And, like, who decided sugar bowls have to be functional? Dana's painting is all about possibilities, and I'm here for it.