Making Magic 1988

Margo Humphrey made "Making Magic", and what a title! It feels playful, alchemical. She’s layering shapes and colours, letting it all hang out on this large sheet. The texture looks almost crumbly in places, like the crayon or pastel is fighting the surface. I imagine Margo hunched over this, maybe on the floor, wrestling with the composition. She’s laying down bold strokes of blue, yellow, pink, then pushing back in with scribbled lines to define the figures and objects. I love the box brimming with stuff—fruit, toys? It’s a total abundance. The whole image feels abundant, like Humphrey is unafraid to throw it all in, to let the painting breathe and surprise. It makes me think about other artists playing with figuration and abstraction, like Joan Brown, maybe. Ultimately, it's all about expression. Each artist brings their own voice to the conversation, and it's that exchange across time that keeps painting alive, evolving, and, well, still making magic.