Clock c. 1939

This is Leonard Battee's 'Clock,' made with watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil, showing us that art can come from anywhere, even chronicling the everyday. The rendering is pretty meticulous. Battee builds up these soft browns and grays, and there's a real care in how he handles the textures of the wood. Look closely at the clock on the right - it feels almost ghostly. The numerals are all there, but they're fading, as if time itself is eroding the object. The cool grays of the clock face contrast with the warmer wood, creating a kind of tension. It's not just about depicting a clock; it's about feeling the weight of time. Battee reminds me of someone like Bill Traylor, finding profound beauty in the simplest of forms. Both artists share a kind of raw, unadulterated vision, one that reminds us that art is as much about feeling as it is about seeing.