Bulto:"Holy Trinity" c. 1937

Majel G. Claflin made this small gouache on paper drawing, Bulto: "Holy Trinity", sometime before 1941. Claflin lays down these dark red, vertical stripes that constitute the main body and robe of the bulto. I imagine her mixing the pigment, adding more water to thin the consistency, how the brushstrokes might have felt as she built up layers of color, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Majel, I wonder what it might have been like for her to create this. The paint is thin, allowing the paper to breathe, which gives it a light feeling. See how she uses a darker pigment around the figure to define the contours and create a sense of depth. The black chain slung around the figure's waist is rendered in a flat, graphic style. These elements shape our experience of the painting and contribute to the emotional and intellectual resonances of the work. Painters are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring one another’s creativity, allowing for multiple interpretations.