Bulto (Santa Rita) c. 1939

Majel G. Claflin made "Bulto (Santa Rita)" with watercolor, and what I love about watercolor is how the process is so visible. The nature of the medium means you're always sort of chasing the image. Here, the way the pigment settles into the paper gives a real sense of the grain of the wood in the sculpture. Look at the folds of her robe, how the dark wash pools and blooms. It's not just a depiction; it's an echo of the original object. And notice how the figure seems to glow, the way the light catches her face and hands. It reminds me that art is never just about what you see, but also about how you see it. It makes me think of Marsden Hartley, another artist who was drawn to the spiritual power of simple forms. Like Hartley, Claflin finds a kind of quiet intensity in her subject, making it feel both intimate and eternal.