Silver Spoon 1935 - 1942

Walter W. Jennings, who lived a long life from 1855 to 1995, made this drawing of a Silver Spoon using graphite and colored pencil. When I look at this, I think about the way the pencil has been used to create the illusion of light hitting the surface of the spoon. Imagine Jennings, his hand moving delicately across the page, building up these subtle gradations. It’s not just about rendering an object; it’s about capturing the way light reveals form. I wonder what Jennings was thinking about as he was drawing, and how long did it take him to complete this drawing? I love the dedication to the process, a sort of humble, quiet attention. There’s a lot to be said for art that celebrates the everyday, transforming a simple object into something worthy of contemplation. He reminds me of other artists, like Morandi, who found endless inspiration in the arrangement of simple still life objects, that in turn, reminds me to value the practice of art-making as a form of seeing, a way to find beauty in the mundane.