Cradle c. 1936

Wellington Blewett made this cradle in paint, at a time unknown to us. I am picturing Wellington hovering over this work, brush in hand, trying to figure out how to translate the objectness of a real thing, into an image – a drawing of it. I can imagine him contemplating how each line and tone work, like a puzzle. I am drawn to the tonal rendering of the wood which must have been absorbing to create. The precision of the lines contrast beautifully with the subtle gradations of the wood's surface. The lower drawings create this sense of a real plan, with a tangible sense of scale and proportion. It’s like Blewett is in conversation with all the other artists who've tried to capture the world in paint, all these attempts feeding into each other. Painting is a form of embodied expression, it’s always open to different ways of reading and feeling.