Rolling Pin c. 1940

Edward Loper made this painting of a rolling pin, we don't know when, but it could have been any time in his life. What I like about it is its simplicity. It's a drawing of a common household tool, but it is also quite beautiful in its design and craftsmanship. You can see that the artist has paid attention to detail, capturing the texture and form of the object, but also adding a decorative element with the repetitive pattern below. It makes me think of a potter's wheel, the way the artist might have turned the pin, slowly building up the surface with layers of paint. There is something meditative about the repetition, the way the artist's hand moves across the canvas, slowly bringing the image into being. Loper was a regionalist painter in the tradition of folks like Edward Hopper and the Ashcan School, but he brought his own sensibility to it. Like them, he saw beauty in the everyday, but there is also an intimacy and tenderness that feels very personal.