Houses at Beach No. 2 c. 1935 - 1943

Jennie Lewis made "Houses at Beach No. 2" with graphite on paper. Looking at this drawing, I think about the patient work involved in creating a whole world with just a pencil. There’s a real sense of place being built here, one line at a time. The artist has clearly thought about the composition a great deal. I feel the artist’s fascination with the everyday, finding beauty in simple houses, trees, and even the telephone wires that crisscross the sky. The attention to detail, like the patterned fence, makes me wonder if Jennie Lewis was interested in textiles, which is another kind of drawing but with thread. She takes a very regular subject, these houses, but she transforms them into something deeply personal. It reminds me of other self-taught artists who found their own ways to see and depict the world, driven by an inner vision. Artists are always looking and learning from each other, across time. There’s something very generous about that constant exchange of ideas.