Wooden Cabinet for Music c. 1938

Rose Campbell-Gerke made this drawing of a wooden cabinet for music with colored pencil. Look at the way she’s built up the color in layers, it’s almost like glazing in painting. You can see the process, the way she’s felt her way into the form. Up close, the wood grain in the door panel feels almost alive, throbbing with subtle reds and browns. The artist uses these nested, pale green and ochre frames to define the space, creating this weird vibration, a sense of the object breathing. The hinges on the side are almost comically large, like some kind of cartoon hardware. This drawing has a strange kinship with the work of Forrest Bess, who also had this naive, visionary quality. These artists remind us that art doesn’t always have to be slick or polished; it can be raw, personal, and deeply felt.