Pottery Jug c. 1936

This Pottery Jug, painted by Willoughby Ions, is a quiet meditation on the everyday object. Browns, creams, reds swirl together, softly rendered and reminiscent of a Rothko palette. It's artmaking as a patient, almost reverent process. The surface! Look how the paint seems to mimic the very texture of the jug it portrays; you can almost feel the cool, rough clay. The color isn’t flat, but layered, with hints of what lies beneath peeking through, giving it a sense of depth and history, just like a real object that's been around the block. See how the dark stain bleeds down the side? It’s like a tear, or a shadow, giving the jug a life of its own. It reminds me a bit of Giorgio Morandi's still lifes, these simple objects imbued with such a profound sense of being. In the end, art is not just about what we see, but how we see it.