This is a painting by Patrick Cardinale, a friend from my days at Montclair State. Sadly, I lost touch with him somewhere over the years, but he was a very talented artist – an explorer. We traded pieces a couple of times. I think he got one of my figurative paintstick drawings and I got this wonderful still life that hangs in our entryway. He was always interested in texture and surface and I always felt this piece brought together an element of German neo-expressionism to an otherwise very traditional form.
Seeing it almost daily now for decades it, as is natural, is usually just part of that ambient visual hum that I call home. But every once in a while it calls my attention in a more compelling way and it reminds me that even in the most mundane of subjects, the most commonplace of formats, there remains room for expression and frontiers for invention if you have the will and the humility to keep exploring.