Retabla of Holy Ghost c. 1936

E. Boyd made this retablo of the Holy Ghost on an unknown date with watercolors on paper. The colour palette is quite muted, using earth tones. There are dominant outlines and red and blue details. I can imagine the artist dipping their brush in water, swirling it into the paint, and then carefully applying each layer. It's amazing that Boyd brought this image into being from scratch. I wonder what they were thinking, hoping, and feeling while they made this? I imagine the artist wanted to capture a sense of divinity or spirituality, or perhaps the artist’s culture valued this form. There is a particularly sweet little dove at the center of the piece that draws my eye. Artists are always looking at each other, riffing on ideas, repeating, and distorting. We’re all in this conversation across time, inspiring each other. Painting is a form of embodied expression, and it allows for a space of ambiguity. There are multiple ways to understand something as simple as a retablo.