Work Table c. 1937

Fred Peterson made this "Work Table" with some kind of pigment on paper, but I can't quite tell you when. Just look at the precision of this artist's hand! The table has two front-facing drawers in a soft orange wood. The whole piece looks so balanced, so solid. You can see the artist considering not only the function of the table but also the aesthetic feel of the object. Peterson makes the details so vivid, you want to reach out and touch the surface, to feel its imagined texture. It is as if Peterson worked with a similar attention to detail as those woodworkers who crafted this piece. These kinds of representations of functional objects have always resonated with me. They remind us that art is not separate from life, but deeply intertwined with our everyday experiences.