Ghost of Business Past

The future wine bar warehouse was full of the ghosts of business past. With the immediate challenge of selecting discarded items to make future art, I muddled through leftover supplies of what appeared to be a former stove parts wholesaler. Encouraged to take only what we needed, I winnowed my selection down to products with which I had already worked; some of which were tiles (even though I promised to never work on another mosaic) and assorted metal, a suitable painting surface considering the two retablos worked on in the past. Also, I took most of the copper tubing since that is used making clock sculptures -- thinking it would be useful in some sort of wine related sculpture.

Well, the still life was still set up in the studio. And there were tiles and old metal desk drawers from the warehouse still in our garage. So, either stupidly or brilliantly, I decided to paint the still life one more time...on the tiles...which will then be attached to the metal drawers with super strong magnets. The whole thing will hang on the wall -- or -- my true inspiration for the idea -- one could put the magnetized tiles on one's refrigerator....grown-up refrigerator art!

Everything is one dimensional on purpose. It was set up on the floor; so to paint one had to bend over. Also, the tiles were left unpainted where the table top should be...and it looked better as a whole without shadows and too much fuss. Because the tiles are so distractingly marbled, the strong outline around the ukulele, apple, and wine bottle are intentionally more pronounced.

This is the last thing I'll do for Block 7 Wine Company's opening.