Drawing from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Smith and Wesson. 38 Double-Action Revolve

Steel, partly nickel-plated; silver

Springfield, Mass, about 1883

 

I selected a beautiful Smith and Wesson firearm with a grip and mount designed and created by Tiffany and Company. Tiffany and Company is well-known for silver jewelry. However, during Civil War, Tiffany presented swords to heroes of the Union army and navy. In the 1880’s and 1890’s, famous American gun makers such as Winchester, Colt, and Smith and Wesson, used Tiffany’s elaborately decorative grips and mounts for firearms.

As for this firearm, the swirling lizard design is the Art Nouveau motif and the silver grip has a hammered surface that was popular in domestic silverware of the period. I think that it looks like jewelry, which attracts people.

 

Still Life “New York City”

Under drawing

Painting

My image of “New York City” is that there is nothing in the middle.

There are highs and lows, which means we can see people and things with two extreme. For example, there is a big gap between wealthy and poor people in New York City. It is like dead or alive, excellent or horrible, and smart or crazy that is very interesting to see. I think, therefore, New York City attracts people and arouses their curiosity. I expressed wealth as a bottle of wine and slices of bread and poverty as bones. They are on a yellow, black, and white colored plaid tablecloth, which represents that two extreme things are composed of mixed ethnic groups in New York City.

Three Eggs

An egg can transform from its original oval shape to a cooked shape, such as scrambled, over-easy, and sunny-side up. An egg can also be a jelly liquid form if it is raw without a shell. There are many possibilities to present three eggs. My first idea was to use a sunny-side up egg and two boiled eggs, but accidentally, one egg broke and the insides came out from the egg while I was boiling the two eggs. I changed my mind and took advantage of the accident. I prepared one boiled egg and one boiled broken egg and came up with another idea of using a glass with a raw egg. Things were setting on the table next to the window in my living room where the things could be flooded with sunlight. It was difficult to make a good balance for the composition. By the painting, I tried to express that people and their lives can change whatever they determine, but nobody knows whether it will turn out well or not.