Safe Bank c. 1940

This watercolour wash on paper, by William O. Fletcher, captures a ‘Safe Bank’ with such detail that it almost feels like a technical drawing. I wonder about Fletcher, alone in his studio, patiently rendering the different textures of the metal. You can almost feel his hand moving, applying thin washes that subtly suggest the way light reflects off the object. See how he’s carefully built up the layers to describe the weight and the three-dimensional form, but in a way that the whole scene still remains airy, light. Perhaps Fletcher had a deep fascination with mundane objects, finding beauty in their design and construction. Or maybe he was simply drawn to the challenge of capturing their form on paper? There's something satisfyingly meticulous about the way he’s rendered the lettering and the ornate details of the bank. It feels like a conversation with artists like Morandi, or even some of the super-realists. It reminds us that the act of close looking, of careful observation, is a form of meditation, a way of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.