Clock Face c. 1936

Ann Gene Buckley made this Clock Face, we don't know exactly when, but what grabs me is the way the simple design is carefully built, like a puzzle. The artwork's got this really lovely, almost tender quality. I’m looking at the soft, washy layers of color, and the delicate outlines around the clock face, it feels less like rendering and more like gently feeling its way into existence, and that’s an attitude I can relate to. The red and gold leaf decoration on the corners of the square, and above, is really striking against the flat background. You can almost feel her hand moving slowly and deliberately across the page. It reminds me of some of the early American folk art I've seen, with its kind of earnest, unpretentious charm. And that's what makes it so compelling to me. It's not trying to be anything it's not. Art, at its best, is like that - an open invitation to look, to feel, and to just be.