Bulto (Santa Rita) c. 1939

Majel G. Claflin created this watercolour, Bulto (Santa Rita), at some point during her lifetime. Looking at this painting, I can almost feel Claflin’s hand moving across the page, gently coaxing the image of Santa Rita into being. The way she uses those soft washes of color, especially the way the red peeks out from under the dark cloak – there’s something so tender and reverent about it. It makes you wonder about her relationship to the subject, and the object she is depicting. I imagine she might have been thinking about the nature of faith, and the way that a simple object can hold so much meaning and power. What does it mean to paint an object of devotion? It feels like she's not just representing a figure but also trying to capture something of her spiritual essence. Artists are always picking up where others left off, in an endless game of telephone across time. Painting isn't about answers, it's about the questions we ask and the conversations we have, with ourselves, each other, and the world.