Boy's Boot c. 1936

Jessie M. Benge made this watercolour Boy’s Boot. The careful use of watercolour creates a delicate but precise image of a boot, or rather the idea of a boot, emerging through light washes of browns and greys, giving depth and form. I imagine Benge hunched over this piece. There is such care in the making, looking closely at the subject, and rendering the boot in multiple forms: the technical drawing, the sole, and the boot itself. I can see the artist working and reworking, wiping back, and then painting again. It reminds me of my own process, that constant shifting and adjusting, like slow dancing with an image until it reveals itself. The thin paint allows the paper to breathe, creating a sense of light and air around the object. The painting and drawing feels connected to other artists who find endless fascination in ordinary objects. It reminds us that painting is never finished but remains an open-ended process, a conversation across time and space.