Shaker Cedar Bucket 1941

Here we have a watercolor of a Shaker Cedar Bucket by T. Joyce who lived between 1855 and 1995. It’s a pretty straightforward, almost technical rendering, but the charm is in the simplicity. The process is visible, like a diagram coming to life. The colors are muted, a gentle cedar brown with pale green hoops. It's like a faded memory of a functional object. I keep thinking about the texture, how the wood might feel, rough but smooth at the same time, you know? There is a certain poetry in its ordinariness. Joyce’s work reminds me a little of Agnes Martin. Both found beauty in reduction and repetition, in the quiet hum of everyday life. It's a gentle reminder that art doesn't always have to shout. Sometimes, it whispers.