Wooden Plow c. 1937

Majel G. Claflin made this image of a Wooden Plow using watercolor. It’s such a humble subject, and the light earthy palette is so muted, that it almost feels like a ghost. The artist really studies this object; its form, its function, the way the light moves across its crude surface. It's like she's trying to understand something fundamental about how things are made. It makes me think of folk art. I can imagine Claflin outside, perhaps in a field, trying to capture the essence of this old farming tool. The lines are delicate, almost tentative, as if she is feeling her way through the subject. It’s as if the image has emerged slowly through a process of trial and error. The artist seems to be asking: what is this thing? And how can painting help me understand it better? It reminds me that, as painters, we are always in conversation with the world around us and with each other.