09/19/2026
Artwork of the Day
Credit: Joseph W. Ross
Vestigia Olei 16X20 Oil on canvas
Vestigia Olei is the first work in my residual painting series. It was created using leftover oil paint from a larger, darker symbolic painting dealing with mortality, illness, consequence, and survival.
The idea comes from personal experience. After facing severe alcohol-related liver disease/cirrhosis and after almost losing my life and rebuilding through sobriety, discipline, and art, I became interested in what remains after collapse, not only physically, but spiritually and creatively.
Rather than discarding the remaining paint from the darker work, I gave it another surface. The result became sunflowers, a monarch butterfly representing rebirth, atmosphere, color, and movement.
This piece is not simple optimism. It is about residue, transformation, and what can still emerge after damage.
In short: Even ruin leaves scraps that can be used to rebuild.
Joseph W. Ross
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