Shaker Tall Clock c. 1937

Here's a watercolor of a Shaker Tall Clock, made by William Paul Childers. Childers clearly had a thing for furniture, and I wonder what he might have been thinking when he made this lovely thing. Maybe he was thinking about time. I mean, it is a clock, after all, patiently measuring the hours and minutes. It's interesting how he’s rendered the wood grain with delicate washes of color, almost caressing the surface. The moon phase dial at the top adds a touch of whimsy, doesn’t it? I can almost see him smiling as he painted it. It’s almost like he's saying, "Yeah, I see you, Agnes Martin!" I wonder how his clock painting might speak to the domestic scenes of someone like Bonnard? I like to think of all these artists in conversation with each other across time, each riffing off the others’ creativity. Painting is about embracing ambiguity and uncertainty. There's space for multiple interpretations.