Untitled (Backyards) c. 1946

Mary L. Finley Fry made this print, Untitled (Backyards), using black ink on white paper. Look at this beautiful arrangement of shapes and values. It has come into being like a shifting puzzle, where nothing quite sits still. I really feel for Fry trying to capture this scene, wrestling with the contrast between light and shadow, and the overlapping geometry of the landscape. What was she thinking as she laid down each mark? The shadows are solid and inky. The fence posts are rendered in such fine lines, giving a sense of light filtering through the slats. It reminds me of other American scene painters. These gestures, the small hatch marks that build up the dark tones, are the key to communicating a sense of depth and mood. Artists are in a constant conversation with one another, building on past ideas. Painting is an act of exchange. It's a form of embodied expression that leaves plenty of room for uncertainty and differing views.