Shelf Clock c. 1936

Lawrence Phillips made this drawing of a shelf clock, and you can see how he’s carefully rendered the wood grain. I imagine him squinting, really looking, trying to understand how the light hits each plane. There's a softness to the clock face, a quiet stillness that makes me think about the nature of time itself. What did time mean to Phillips as he drew this? Was he thinking about the clock’s purpose, its promise to keep us on schedule? I wonder if he ever felt like time was slipping through his fingers, like the rest of us. That floral arrangement at the bottom is so delicately observed. Phillips invites us to see the beauty in the everyday, in the functional objects that share our spaces. It reminds me that art isn't just about grand gestures; it's also about the subtle act of noticing. Every artist is in conversation with the world around them and with each other.