Bootjack c. 1937

Wellington Blewett made this rendering of a Bootjack, with graphite and watercolor, sometime in the twentieth century. It’s a quiet, subdued rendering, and the way the object is lit makes it feel like a memory. The piece is more about capturing the form and texture of the object than a photorealistic rendering. See the way the artist plays with the light and shadow, using thin washes of watercolor to suggest the wood grain? The pencil marks add a roughness, a sense of the handmade that mirrors the bootjack itself. The color palette is simple, just a few earth tones, which gives it a timeless quality. It reminds me of some of the Shaker artists, who celebrated simple utilitarian objects. It's a reminder that art can be found in the everyday, and that the process of seeing and rendering can transform even the most humble object into something beautiful.