Trivet c. 1942

This is Ardella Watkins' drawing of a trivet. The drawing is an exercise in dark tones. Watkins maps the object out in light and shadow. The brown lines become the thing itself. Look closely, and you’ll see that the lines are not hard and fast. They waver and stutter, revealing Watkins’ hand and eye at work. The drawing has a tenderness to it, a deep respect for the handmade. You can almost feel the heat of the trivet. There is a love for pattern in the work. A simple heart shape creates a kind of infinite echo in the piece, this elevates the trivet from a simple object, into something else. Watkins' Trivet echoes the work of other artists who pay homage to everyday objects through their art, like the drawings of Lucie McKenzie. The drawing asks us to slow down and find beauty in the mundane, and to remember that art is an ongoing conversation across time.