The Clock Tower, From St. James Park 1904

Joseph Pennell made this etching of 'The Clock Tower, From St. James Park' probably in 1903. It’s all about the dance of lines, isn't it? A web of scratches that build up to a picture. The way he layers those marks feels almost like he’s feeling his way through the scene, like he doesn't quite know what he will discover. Look at the tree on the left – how the lines are denser, darker, almost vibrating with a sense of depth. Then, your eye travels to the clock tower in the background, hazy and indistinct. It's a great contrast between solid and ephemeral that makes the picture really sing. Pennell reminds me a bit of Whistler, in the way he finds beauty in the everyday and transforms it through a kind of tonal poetry. Art's about seeing, feeling, and sharing that vision with others. It’s a conversation, an exchange of ideas across time.