Pa. German Plate c. 1937

Yolande Delasser made this watercolor drawing of a Pennsylvania German Plate at an unknown date. The plate is full of these earthy greens and reds, like something you’d pull straight from the garden, or find in a Pennsylvania barn. I imagine Delasser hunched over this drawing, maybe by a window, really focused on getting the details just right. You can see how carefully she's rendered the folksy motifs, the eagle and the text reading “Liberty For T. A. Jackson.” It’s like she is channeling something from deep in her past, a memory of a place or a person. This piece reminds me of some of the American primitive painters like Horace Pippin, who, like Delasser, brought such raw emotion and directness to their work. There’s a beauty in that simplicity, a kind of truth that cuts through all the noise. Artists are always having this conversation across time, you know, picking up where others left off, inspiring each other to see the world in new ways. Painting is really this ongoing process of trying to figure things out, embracing the messiness and uncertainty, and leaving room for all sorts of possibilities.