Bishop Hill: Flail c. 1939

Archie Thompson made this watercolor painting of a flail, sometime in the 20th century. Just look at how he's rendered the textures and subtle variations in color! It's the work of someone who really knew their subject inside out, someone who understands artmaking as a process, a journey of looking and feeling. See how the pigment pools in the paper's tooth? He's given so much attention to the textures of the wood and rope. The brown shades dance between warm honey and cool bark, inviting you to reach out and feel the rough surface. The rendering of the lashed joint is particularly beautiful, each twist of the rope is carefully delineated. It is a simple object, but one that has been created by hand and is both functional and beautiful. Thinking about this alongside the work of other self-taught artists, like Bill Traylor, or even some of the early American modernists, it feels like part of a larger conversation about vision and the handmade. The painting embraces ambiguity and encourages multiple interpretations.