Wheel 1935 - 1942

Editor: This is Hugh Clarke's "Wheel," made sometime between 1935 and 1942 using coloured pencil and pencil. It feels almost… nostalgic, you know? It's a humble, everyday object, carefully rendered. What do you see in it? Curator: Oh, absolutely. Nostalgia is spot-on. To me, it whispers of hearth and home, of labor and creation. The humble spinning wheel transformed raw materials into something useful, something beautiful, in its time a precursor, of sorts, to the mechanized textile industry. But, more personally, doesn't it also stir a quiet longing, a wistful recognition of simpler times, perhaps ones we never even knew? Editor: I suppose so! It's interesting you say that about the industrial revolution. It feels so separate from this quiet little drawing, though. Curator: Doesn’t it, though? I always find it curious when artists memorialize seemingly obsolete tools. It makes me think—is it pure documentation? A lament for a lost way of life? Maybe it's about finding the beauty and intricacy in even the most mundane things. Consider the light in the drawing, softly caressing the wood's texture – does it evoke any specific emotions or memories for you? Editor: I hadn't really thought of it that way! It's true, there is beauty in simplicity here, perhaps in the process itself. I definitely feel the wood texture. Curator: And perhaps a message, humming softly, urging us to slow down and appreciate the craft behind everyday things. An ode to ingenuity, wouldn't you say? Editor: Yes! Definitely feeling like a thoughtful ode to a bygone era. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. It makes you want to curl up by a fire and spin yarns, doesn't it? Both literally, and figuratively!