Pa. German Butter Mold c. 1939

Editor: Here we have "Pa. German Butter Mold," a drawing with colored pencil and watercolor, made around 1939 by Franklyn Syres. I am really drawn to how… restrained, I guess, the palette is. It gives the artwork a delicate and timeless quality, despite being just an illustration of a butter mold. What's your take on this piece? Curator: Ah, yes! Syres's butter mold evokes such nostalgia for me, doesn't it for you? There's something so tender about elevating this everyday object. It's a whisper of home, rendered in earth tones as delicate as the taste of dairy, no? Folk art has a way of doing that. Syres isn’t just painting an object, he is documenting the cultural heart. Does it remind you of anything specific? A certain memory or flavour? Editor: I can see that! My grandma used to bake a lot. The symmetry and those small details… I’d never thought of a mold being a symbol. Are those wheat designs? What do they represent? Curator: Precisely! Wheat traditionally symbolizes prosperity, bounty, a harvest…it’s almost Edenic, isn't it? Each groove carved with intention, telling tales of the land's fertility. Syres saw more than just a mold; he saw the cultural stories that we may otherwise miss, do you think? Editor: Absolutely, now I'm thinking of how it connects to traditions. Like how each stamp makes a small unique impression. You see those radiating lines above? They do feel quite Edenic as you mentioned! I totally missed that at first. Curator: Yes, it is that layering that speaks volumes about memory, culture and nostalgia; something both etched into the object, and, dare I say, onto our hearts as well. I wonder, now, what mark are *we* going to make, here today? Editor: That’s deep. Well, thanks to this artwork, I think I'm becoming more aware of beauty in everyday life.