Pa. German Trivet c. 1938

Herman Bader made this drawing of a Pa. German Trivet sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. You can almost smell the graphite and feel the smooth grain of the paper. I imagine Bader hunched over his work, carefully rendering the ornate details of the trivet. Each line, each shadow, is a testament to his close observation and skillful hand. Look at the concentric circles and floral motifs. Do you notice how they create a sense of movement and rhythm? I wonder if he knew the maker of the trivet, if they were friends. There's a dialogue happening here, across generations, across materials. Bader's drawing is not just a representation of an object, but a conversation with it, a meditation on its form and function. Drawing is a great way to figure out something about the world. It's like the trivet is in conversation with the drawing of it; one helps to see the other. It reminds me of the conversations I have with other painters through the act of painting, a shared language of marks and gestures, of trial and error.