Original Painting: Solstice 1 by James Edward Scherbarth

A band of cold blue, then a great deal of weather.

Solstice 1 is an original painting by James Edward Scherbarth (1949-2021), oil and cold wax medium on cradle board, signed and dated on the reverse 2014. Painters mix cold wax into oil to build thick, matte layers that can be scraped back, and works like this are made for slow looking on a home or gallery wall. A strip of slate blue crosses the top. Below it, a broad field of pale grey and white looks flecked and worn, with rust in one corner. Twenty-four inches wide and thirty high.

The shortest day of the year, in the longest possible grey.