Wooden Christo, Painted (Side view) c. 1937

Majel G. Claflin made this watercolor of a painted wooden Christ figure, sometime before 1941. Look at the way the color seems to drip down the body, the red running like tears or blood, a real sense of gravity. Claflin's hand is evident; you can see the process. The paint isn't overworked, and the marks are simple but direct. I'm drawn to the textures, like the almost cartoonish rendering of the green cloth around Christ’s waist. It's not photorealism, but it has its own strange, tactile reality. Notice the circle on the back, made of smaller strokes, and how the marks are both abstract and descriptive. It reminds me a little of Marsden Hartley’s folk art sensibility, the way he embraced rawness and emotion over polished technique. It's a reminder that art isn't about perfection, but about feeling and seeing in new ways. It invites us to bring our own experiences and interpretations to the mix.