Side Saddle c. 1937

Frank C. Barks made this drawing of a side saddle in subtle shades of brown. The saddle emerges, each line drawn with delicate precision, like an exquisite dance between control and letting go. I wonder, was Barks thinking about craft when he made this piece? About the process of making things, or even the work of the rider herself? I can almost feel the smooth leather, the way it warms beneath your touch. The artist’s patient hand guides the composition; they are both maker and observer, seeing and feeling. There is a confidence to Barks' line, a sense of inevitability, which reminds me a little of Agnes Martin's deceptively simple drawings. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, influencing each other and responding to the world around them. And isn’t it remarkable how a drawing can convey so much with so little, offering new ways of seeing, feeling, and thinking?