Original Painting: Stone Work 12 by James Edward Scherbarth

Dark stepping stones cross a field of dull gold, leaving one to wonder where they lead.

This original painting, Stone Work 12, is by James Edward Scherbarth (1949-2021), in oil and cold wax on cradle board, signed en verso. Paving and stepping stones have long appealed to abstract painters as ready-made patterns of shape and gap. Irregular slabs of near-black and slate blue are arranged across a mottled bronze and ochre ground, each with a slightly raised, ragged edge. A curving path of smaller stones swings across the middle. The ground is finely speckled and scratched. It is 12 inches wide and 12 high.

A garden path, with the garden left to the imagination.