Weather Vane c. 1936

Edward Loper’s Weather Vane uses muted tones on paper, creating an image of a tool that measures the invisible. Look at the surface of the painted spheres; Loper coaxes out the three-dimensional with delicate strokes. The palette is limited to browns and grays, and the strokes suggest the play of light on the metal. It’s like he's asking: How do you paint something that is meant to move and shift with unseen forces? I imagine Loper carefully rendering each element, trying to capture the essence of the object, its utilitarian purpose. The arrow is particularly interesting, its delicate, almost ornamental design contrasting with its practical function. It’s a conversation between form and function, and it reminds me of how artists are always trying to find new ways to represent the world around them. Painters are always looking, always responding to what they see, and then translating it onto canvas or paper. There's a feeling of the artist really looking, considering, and then slowly, methodically constructing the image of the weather vane. It’s this intimate, almost meditative process that makes painting so fascinating and deeply human.