Shawl Strap c. 1938

Grace Halpin made this drawing of a shawl strap. I imagine her bent over the object, carefully observing the beaded texture, the way the light hits the leather buckles, and the intense red of the backing. It’s a muted palette, but that red just grabs you. It’s like she’s trying to capture not just the look of the thing, but the feel of it, too. I can almost feel the give of the leather, the cool metal of the handle. It makes me wonder about Halpin and what she felt towards this object: was it simply an interesting shape to draw, or did it carry a deeper significance for her? The way she painstakingly renders each bead reminds me of the endless hours we artists spend wrestling with a painting. It's this back and forth, trial and error, until it finally clicks. We, as painters, are all in conversation, constantly borrowing and riffing off each other's ideas. You can feel a sense of patience, like a gentle hum that vibrates through time and space.