Pa. German Rolling Pin c. 1941

This is Frank Budash's Pa. German Rolling Pin, a watercolour made sometime between 1855 and 1995. There’s something so earnest about rendering a rolling pin in watercolour, don’t you think? I’m drawn to the way the wood grain is so meticulously depicted. It feels less like a painting of a functional object and more like a portrait. The varying shades of brown create depth and dimension and give the rolling pin a kind of weight. There's a clear love for the materiality of the wood itself. Look at the end of the rolling pin, where the wood grain swirls. It’s like a tiny abstract painting within the larger composition. It reminds me a bit of Charles Sheeler’s precisionist paintings. Both artists find beauty in the mundane, elevating everyday objects to subjects worthy of artistic attention. The rolling pin becomes almost monumental. It’s a reminder that art can be found in the most unexpected places.