Pterocera rugosa Possibly 1962

Charles Arthur Wells Jr. made this print of a Pterocera rugosa, we don’t know when, but something about the earthy, handmade feel of it makes me want to reach out and touch it. I love the way Wells lets the texture of the paper come through. It’s not trying to hide anything, you know? The paper is stained with a deep reddish-brown ink. This creates a background for the main image of a conch shell, rendered with fine, dark lines, and the contrast really makes the shell pop. Focusing on one of the lines that describes the shell, there is something so delicate about it. You can imagine the artist, so focused, hand moving slowly to get it just right. It reminds me of the drawings of Vija Celmins, who makes these obsessive drawings of stones and shells. Anyway, art is just one long conversation between people looking at the world.