Chalkware Rooster c. 1940

Elmer Kottcamp made this Chalkware Rooster, we don't know when, with watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paper. This rooster looks like a sweet, wobbly character. You can see the hand of the artist in the way that the colors blend. I can feel Kottcamp’s gentle focus, the way he might have been coaxing this little guy to life, line by line. The chalkware has this great folk art quality, and it's fun to see it interpreted in watercolor. Think about other artists that looked to everyday objects – like, say, a soup can – and elevated them to iconic status. Kottcamp, too, takes something simple and gives it his own spin. The rooster's got these stripes in the feathers that reminds me of Marsden Hartley's paintings of birds. That’s what painting’s all about for me: one big conversation across time.