Patten c. 1936

Charlotte Winter made this watercolour, ‘Patten’, and what strikes me is its quiet simplicity. The object is rendered with delicate washes of colour, a subtle blend of pinks, browns, and greys which feels almost like a memory fading into the page. I can imagine Winter carefully mixing her paints, layering each stroke with precision, really seeing the patten. I wonder what drew her to this particular object. Was it the way the light caught the metal, or the soft curve of the ribbon? There’s an intimacy in the way she’s chosen to depict this everyday object, elevating it to something worthy of contemplation. You get a sense of her noticing, really noticing, the world around her, and finding beauty in the mundane. It reminds me that painting isn't always about grand gestures or dramatic statements. Sometimes, it’s about the quiet act of looking, and the simple pleasure of rendering what you see.