"Safe" Bank c. 1938

William O. Fletcher rendered this "Safe" Bank in watercolor, ink, and graphite on paper. I love how the watercolor becomes a kind of echo, suggesting the way we hold onto childhood memories. The architectural rendering, with its multiple views, feels almost like a playful diagram. I can imagine Fletcher, pencil in hand, carefully tracing the outlines of the bank, maybe even feeling the cool metal against his fingertips. It also makes me think about all the conversations that happen between artists across time. It's not hard to see how someone like Wayne Thiebaud, with his cakes and pies, might have been drawn to Fletcher’s nostalgic rendering of a child’s coin bank. The act of painting becomes a kind of meditation on the object itself. I can almost feel the artist’s curiosity as he meticulously recreated its form and details. It's like he's asking, "What does it mean to hold onto something, to keep it safe?"