Beaded Moccasin 1935 - 1942

Melita Hofmann made this drawing of a moccasin out of graphite and colored pencil. The hatching and cross-hatching give the little shoe form, but it's the color that makes it sing. The material quality, the tooth of the paper, really grabs you. There are reds, blues, and greens, with some yellows and browns. It's not about a clean line, but more about the energy of the mark. Take, for example, the band of red at the back of the moccasin. This isn't so much a depiction of the object, as an exploration of the colors in the artist's mind. Like a Cy Twombly painting, it shows how art can be about letting go of perfection. The act of artmaking is about the process, inviting improvisation and personal touch.