Day's End

Must be getting old. Thinking about life stages recently and how we view the world differently as we age. Did this piece I call "Day's End". It simultaneously represents the feeling we get at the end of a hard day of work and the similar feelings of the day's end of a life. Used disks from various sized wire spools to represent three stages ... youth, middle years and unfortunately for me ... now.The majority of the piece is painted white for a neutral effect with a couple of exceptions. The red block is to center and ground the concept. The rusty metal shovel, along with the saw handles, symbolizes work. The rusty metal cup on the other hand brings to mind the pleasure associated with a deep, refreshing drink of cold water at the end of a hot day at work. It also represents the need for quenching our spiritual thirst in our latter years. I do not associate this need with any religious activity , but others may.



On each disk, I printed comments that I associate with each stage. Simply put, I catagorize the stages as the optimism and confidence of youth, the complaciency and appathy of the middle years and the questioning of old age. Linking each phase is our need to be heard ... to "listen to me". Should the piece ever be shown, the audience would be encouraged to add their own comments for each stage to the piece itself.

A final point that I incorporated into the piece is the withered pointing arm. Yes, it is the grim reaper ... though clothed in white. It points the inevitable way for all to see ... no matter the stage.