Rider's Spur c. 1938

This watercolour of a Rider's Spur, made by Fred Hassebrock, feels like an exercise in seeing – how to describe an object, how to capture its form and texture with just a few washes. You can see the artist feeling their way through the subject. I'm drawn to the way Hassebrock renders the metal – not shiny and new, but worn, with a kind of dull, earthy quality. The colour is built up in layers, suggesting the patina of age, the residue of use. Look closely, and you can see the delicate brushstrokes, the way the colour pools and settles in certain areas. It feels like a very intimate act of looking and recording. The spur itself, isolated against the bare paper, becomes almost sculptural. It reminds me of the drawings of Albrecht Dürer, the way he could elevate the most humble object to something monumental through sheer observation. Ultimately, art invites us to see the world anew, to find beauty and meaning in the everyday.