Spur c. 1936

J. Henry Marley made this small but fierce study of a spur sometime in the 20th century. The color is leached out except for the stark black grips. I can just imagine the artist finding this object, maybe in a dusty corner, and thinking, I have to draw that! There is something so iconic about the shape of a spur; all that pent-up energy ready to burst. And the shadow gives it a certain depth. Look at the thinness of the paint. Marley probably diluted it with a lot of water, allowing it to seep into the paper. It’s so delicate and precise, yet rough and ready at the same time. I bet Marley admired artists like Charles Marion Russell, whose work portrayed the grit and freedom of the American West. Artists are always looking at each other, you know, riffing off the same chords, each adding their own spin. It's like a big conversation across time, inspiring each other to keep creating.