Wooden Cross used as Headstone (Hand Made) c. 1937

Majel G. Claflin made this watercolor and graphite of a hand-made wooden cross, probably sometime in the early 20th century. Look at how the cross itself is rendered – it’s got this jagged, almost playful edge, softened by the delicate wreath of pink flowers. I wonder what Claflin was thinking as she painted this? Maybe about the person whose grave it marked, or about the way folk traditions can imbue something as simple as a grave marker with such personality. The rendering is gentle, the wooden texture evoked with the lightest touch, the pink flowers just these small pops of color against the muted wood. I’m reminded of other artists who find beauty and poignancy in the everyday, like the Shaker artists, or even some of the early American folk painters. It’s like Claflin is saying, "Even in death, there’s still a kind of beauty, a kind of handmade care that speaks to the life that was." These makers speak to each other across time, through acts of love.