I was struck by how, from first breath to last, we are enmeshed in the mystery of time. Clocktower Cottage is a multifaceted allegory encompassing many dimensions of time, from the ephemeral to the enduring. Yet the clock marks each minute. The bell tolls each hour. The cottage greets each season.
Fragile mushrooms spring up overnight and pass as quickly.
Flowers bloom, then wither. The spreading beech tree endures sun and storm before the years claim it. The statue of Saint Francis will outlast his namesake, but it, too, will inevitably crumble in time. And, above it all, the heavens from a proscenium where the script of an eternal promise is played out by the antics of rolling wisps of clouds - the ultimate theatre for time itself. In a way, a painting is itself a time traveler - its message memorialized for generations to follow.