Clock c. 1938

This clock by Rex F. Bush is a meticulous rendering in watercolor and graphite on paper. It's so precise, like a technical drawing, yet the delicate touch of the watercolor gives it a dreamlike quality. I imagine Bush at his desk, carefully building up the layers of color, stroke by stroke. The wood grain is so convincing. What's going on in that oval picture at the bottom though? A mansion? A weird ominous storm? It’s a little unsettling. The overall effect reminds me of folk art, with its directness and charm, but there's also this sense of melancholy, like time is passing and things are fading. Bush, working away, keeping time with his art. It makes you wonder about all the anonymous artists who poured their hearts into these decorative objects. They're all talking to each other across time, through the language of images.