Silver Spoon 1935 - 1942

William P. Shearwood made this drawing of a "Silver Spoon" with graphite and watercolor on paper. What I love about this piece is that it looks like Shearwood is figuring out how to make the spoon exist on the page, letting the process be visible; it's not about virtuosity, but about the labor of observation. There’s a beautiful tentativeness to the rendering of the spoon’s reflective surface, in how the medium is applied, and in the subtle graphite under drawing visible beneath the translucent washes. Look at how Shearwood handles the bowl of the spoon, letting the graphite lines and watercolor bleed into one another. This imprecision brings the object to life and captures the subtle complexities of light and shadow. It reminds me a bit of Morandi’s still life paintings, in its quiet, contemplative approach. It’s like Shearwood is asking, "How can I find the real spoon?" Ultimately, this piece is not just a drawing of a spoon; it’s a meditation on seeing, on touch, and on the very act of creation. It is art as exploration, not as a declaration.