Hive #4 by James Edward Scherbarth, Framed

Pale yellow sweeps up from the lower left under a band of near-black, like a field caught just before the storm.

Hive #4, framed, is oil and cold wax on paper by James Edward Scherbarth (1949-2021), dated 2016 and signed and dated en verso. Cold wax painting is built in layers that are often scraped back, so earlier colors and textures show through later ones. A strip of black runs across the top of the square image. Below, buttery yellow and mustard are dragged in arcs, with dark scraped streaks and thin vertical lines at the right. A wide cream mat sits inside a brown wood frame. It is 13 inches wide and 13 high, the image 6 by 6.

Warm enough to hum.