Silver Spoon c. 1936

Charlotte Winter made this beautiful drawing of a silver spoon using pencil on paper. I love the subtleties of tone, and the implied shine of the metal. You can see the act of making, the hand of the artist, through the delicate shading and the sureness of the drawn line. I wonder what Winter was thinking about as she rendered this spoon. Maybe she was contemplating its history, its function, its place in the domestic sphere. Or perhaps she was simply absorbed in the challenge of capturing its form and texture on paper. I feel like I'm able to experience this everyday object anew, thanks to Winter's keen eye and steady hand. Her subtle variations in tone suggest the play of light on the spoon's surface. You can see how this drawing, simple as it may seem, connects to the broader tradition of still life painting, where artists have long found endless inspiration in the beauty of ordinary objects. I bet she would have loved Wayne Thiebaud, and all his drawings of cakes!