Best Friends Walking Home 

Editor: This is “Best Friends Walking Home” by Arthur Sarnoff. There isn't a specific date, but it feels timeless. Painted with oil and watercolour, it captures two kids walking on a path; they have this amazing intimacy that just grabbed me. It’s a pretty simple composition, what really jumps out at you? Curator: Simple maybe on the surface, but look again. The artist places us, the viewers, right *behind* the children. We're almost walking *with* them. Makes you think, doesn't it? Where are they going? What secrets are they sharing? To me, the slightly muted colors, even that cloudy sky, add to the feeling of… nostalgia. Makes you think of your own childhood adventures, perhaps? Or the things you'd like to have shared? Editor: Totally. It feels very much like it could be a memory... like a dream, almost? The houses feel far away but are big in comparison, even though they are in the background. Is that on purpose? Curator: Perhaps! I see those stark, bare trees against the overcast sky and the almost monochrome buildings and I think: this is childhood innocence juxtaposed with the realities, and maybe the starkness, of rural life. Did their folks ask them to fetch something? Maybe they are off on an adventure...or maybe off to face up to something much less romantic. The way the dirt road is carved between fields is quite special too. Is that farm equipment maybe? Do you see the little details? Editor: Yeah, there's more there than you think. What strikes me too is how tactile the artist is with paint... the furrows in that dirt road are incredible! This is more than just a pretty picture. Curator: Exactly. It invites you into the experience. You know, it might make for a beautiful painting if that bond weren't present... But these children. They remind me of my little brother. Editor: Totally, thanks for shedding new light on that, Curator. That feeling, that simple, profound connection… that's art at its best, isn't it? Curator: Indeed. Something universal captured in a specific, yet unassuming, moment. Wonderful.