Silver Sugar Tongs c. 1936

This drawing of silver sugar tongs, by Suzanne Roy, doesn't have a date, but she lived a long life, from 1855 to 1995. I think of this as a piece made up of layers of light. Look how Roy uses pencil to capture the way light glints off the metal. The tiny etched details on the tongs aren't just decorative, they are alive with reflected light. The rendering is soft and precise, like holding a memory in your hand. It reminds me of the work of Vija Celmins, an artist who also used graphite pencil to make images from reality, which when looked at closely reveal themselves to be compositions of grey marks. It's a quiet and poetic moment of observation. This image invites you to contemplate the beauty in the mundane, and the magic that is possible when we really pay attention to the world.