Fire Tongs c. 1937

This simple drawing of fire tongs, by Clyde L. Cheney, is made with watercolor and graphite on paper. Look at it closely! I can imagine Cheney hunched over his desk. The warm browns and ochres almost glow on the page, don't they? I wonder if Cheney was trying to capture not just the shape but the feeling of holding something hot, something dangerous. The details he includes, the little knobs and joints, suggest an eye trained to see how things are made, how they fit together. It reminds me of technical drawings. You know, the ones where the artist is in conversation with other artists, across time. There's a humble beauty here, in the precision and care taken to represent a simple tool. I love how this piece embraces uncertainty, and is open for many different readings. It makes you think, doesn't it?