Clock c. 1939

This image of a clock was rendered by Dorothea A. Farrington with what looks like watercolor, and it’s got this lovely, folksy vibe. I really love how it kind of vibrates on the paper, the way she’s built up the image from small strokes. There's something about the texture that’s really appealing, especially how the wood grain is suggested with these light and dark lines. I also love how she includes those landscape details in the panels. The way Farrington handles the trees, those little dots of green, it's almost pointillist! And the eagle up top adds this touch of Americana. It all feels so intuitive. Farrington has a lot of paintings in this mode, a world rendered through the loving hand. This clock reminds me of a Joseph Yoakum drawing, in its dreamlike vision, and how it feels so deeply personal. It is not a painting that is trying to show you something you already know.