Baby Shoe c. 1937

Ada V. May made this small watercolor of a "Baby Shoe" on paper. It’s so delicate! Look at how she's captured the soft, worn texture of the shoe with gentle washes of color. The palette is muted, almost nostalgic, like a memory fading at the edges. The tan and gray seem almost accidental, which makes the piece feel so immediate. What I love about this piece is how the simplicity of the subject is elevated through May’s careful attention to detail. The tiny laces and the decorative flourish on the side—it’s all rendered with such love. It makes me think of the work of Joseph Cornell, another artist who found profound beauty in the everyday. Ultimately, art is a conversation across time, and May’s "Baby Shoe" invites us to reflect on the fleeting nature of childhood and the enduring power of simple objects to evoke complex emotions.