Bucket c. 1940

William Kieckhofel’s watercolor, "Bucket," gives a kind of magical realist take on the everyday, or maybe the once-upon-a-time. You can see the care and handling in the even application of color. The warm, earthy tones, mostly browns and coppery hues, create a sense of something wholesome and homespun. I find myself wondering, if this were a real object, how would it feel? Is the paint thin and washy, or are there layers building up a sense of depth and weight? Check out the way the rim of the bucket is rendered. How the dark band and subtle rivets add just the right amount of definition while still keeping it dreamy and soft. I think it could be an etching! Anyway, Kieckhofel reminds me a bit of Charles Burchfield, in the way he imbues ordinary things with a kind of inner life. It's all about taking something functional and turning it into a vessel for imagination, a bucket for our dreams.