Muffin Pan c. 1940

Paul Poffinbarger made this drawing of a muffin pan sometime in the 20th century using graphite and colored pencil. I can imagine him carefully rendering each little muffin cup, one by one, building up the dark tones with layers of pencil, trying to get the shadows just right. It's so brown! Brown shadows, brown muffins - you know, like a Morandi but make it domestic. I’m sure he must have been thinking about light, volume, and form, but maybe also about the quiet beauty of everyday objects and how even the most humble things can be art. It’s like he’s inviting us to slow down and really see this thing, this pan, and all its subtle textures. The simple drawing reminds me that artists are in an ongoing conversation, exchanging ideas across time. Like a painter, Poffinbarger embraces ambiguity, letting us find our own meaning in his work.