Hooked Rug c. 1936

Lillian M. Mosseller made this Hooked Rug drawing, a coloured pencil on paper. The directness of her approach is what hits me first. Mosseller’s mark-making feels exploratory, like she’s feeling her way through the image. It’s not about perfection, it’s about process; you can see the colour pencil, and the layering of tones. I love the way the colours sit together, the pinks and purples and blues, somehow both harmonious and a little off-kilter. Look closely at that flower with the concentric circles, it's all about texture, it looks soft enough to touch. You can imagine the artist’s hand moving across the page, building up the density of the colour, finding the forms within the tangle of lines. It reminds me of some of the folk art I’ve seen, with its naive charm and unfiltered vision. It’s a reminder that art is not just about skill, but about seeing and feeling. It’s a conversation, a way of sharing a particular way of experiencing the world. There’s something really special about that.