Boy's Boot c. 1936

Jessie M. Benge made this watercolor, "Boy's Boot," and you can see how the transparent washes allow the paper to glow through, creating subtle shifts in tone. It feels like a study, doesn't it? Like she's figuring out the form in stages. Look at how she’s handled the texture of the boot itself. It’s not just brown; it’s got depth, a kind of lived-in feel. The layering of colors suggests wear and use, like you could almost smell the leather. The pencil sketches to the left are like ghostly echoes, or maybe the diagrammatic notes of a cobbler. The repetition of the boot's form across the picture plane provides a rhythmic counterpoint to the muted brown of the boot. It makes me think of other artists who obsess over the everyday, like Giorgio Morandi and his bottles. Like Morandi, Benge finds something quietly profound in the mundane. Ultimately, it's a reminder that art doesn't always have to shout to be heard.