Retablo - Santa Maria c. 1939

Majel G. Claflin’s "Retablo - Santa Maria" is painted on a piece of wood, maybe in the early part of the 20th century. Just imagine the artist finding this surface, feeling its rough edges, and deciding it was perfect for this image. The image is so simple. Mary stands in the middle, framed by these earthy tones, reds and greens. I wonder, was Claflin thinking about folk art traditions? There's something deeply personal about it, like a prayer painted with love and a few strokes. The paint is thin, so thin you can see the wood grain coming through, it’s like the surface is part of the image itself. Those lines radiating from Mary’s head, like sun rays, or a halo. I can imagine the artist considering each of these details carefully, intuitively, figuring out what it needed as she made it. It reminds me how artists, even across time, are always talking to each other through their work, remixing the old to make something new. Painting is an expression which embraces multiple possibilities.