Crucible

I recently finished this painting keeping with the unique still life theme. I setup the scene in my garage against the unpainted wall. The vase is a find from an antique store. It was small, delicate and had an interesting color and reflecting qualities. The wood "chunk" that the vase is sitting on is a block of Brazilian cherry that I intended to create a carving from. That hasn't happened yet but test carving marks were made on the edges. I wanted to create a sense of atmosphere and ambiguity in the background. Is it a wall or some sort of landscape? I titled the piece "Crucible". The intense red of the platform of wood, the turbulent background caused me to think of such. The work is to be entered into an upcoming "Artists who Teach" show here in San Antonio.