Pewter Tobacco Jar c. 1941

Ardella Watkins made this pencil drawing of a pewter tobacco jar. It’s a simple composition: a cylindrical container, and two lids, one oval, one rectangular. The jar looks unused, maybe waiting to be filled. I’m thinking about Watkins, sketching, and carefully trying to capture the muted luster of the pewter. You know, it must have taken focus and a delicate touch to create those subtle gradients of tone and texture with just a pencil. The process is unhurried, very quiet and thoughtful. I feel Watkins’ sensitivity in the light and shadow, the way the pencil creates a sense of depth, and volume. She’s really attentive to the object in front of her. She is patiently rendering what is in front of her. But in a way, I am reminded of Giorgio Morandi’s still life paintings, domestic, quiet, reduced. Watkins shares with Morandi, I think, a fascination with the intimate and the everyday.