The Cypress-Shingle Yard, Ocklawaha River, Florida 1870

Curator: Oh, I’m really drawn to the almost ethereal quality here. This is Harry Fenn's watercolor, "The Cypress-Shingle Yard, Ocklawaha River, Florida," dating back to 1870. Editor: It feels like looking into a faded photograph. The subdued palette and indistinct forms certainly evoke a sense of bygone days, though I immediately feel melancholic and isolated somehow. Curator: Absolutely, there’s this quiet dignity about it. The way the artist uses watercolor lends a sense of transience. The image teeters on the edge of disappearing like a memory or an old folktale. Notice how he captures the hazy Florida light filtering through the tall, thin palms. The almost symbolic hut with its dark doorway further enhance the impression of entering a sacred place. Editor: Those cypress shingles. To me, they suggest impermanence. They're building a life, a home, but from a material that's intrinsically destined to decay. There’s a poignant parallel with the men quietly working there, seemingly blending in with the surroundings. I’m thinking of how humans perceive shelter as a sanctuary—a safe place for introspection and regeneration. Yet it’s frail. Curator: True, I like how you brought in the sacred connection of shelter because this ties directly with the ideas about finding home but not necessarily owning it in a traditional sense, so, what symbols within resonate most clearly? Editor: I'm struck by the darkness in the shingle hut. It reminds me of initiation rituals in some cultures, a passage from the known to the unknown and represents potential spiritual rebirth, I imagine, it is quite the opposite of cozy! Curator: Fascinating, because you interpreted this scene with some foreboding and discomfort when I interpreted this the other way around; with much peaceful contemplation in isolation as the driving motivation of these humans represented in the watercolor. Editor: We all bring ourselves into the work, don't we? But in that sense it succeeds; prompting questions and reflection far beyond its apparent simple representation. It becomes about who we are in relationship to that world, and that dialogue can reveal parts of ourselves that might otherwise stay hidden.