Mending 1905

Anders Zorn made this etching, called 'Mending', sometime between 1880 and 1920. Look closely, and you’ll see these dark, decisive marks, scratched into the plate, capturing a figure caught in a moment of quiet concentration. I can imagine Zorn hunched over the plate, his hand moving with assurance, guided by an inner vision. There’s something so intimate and immediate about etching, you know? Each line feels like a direct transfer of thought and feeling. I bet he was thinking about Rembrandt, all that chiaroscuro. The way the light catches on her form! The surface feels alive, charged with energy, even in its stillness. It reminds me that painting—or any kind of making, really—is like a conversation across time. We’re all just borrowing and building on each other’s ideas, trying to figure things out as we go. It's never about perfect answers but about embracing the questions.