This Vanitas Drawing is a pastel on standard size Canson paper. It was begun in 1977 and finished in 1980, but I had no idea when I made it that this was called a Vanitas artwork. There were at one time two pieces of paper that were joined together. In 1980, the right side was finished, and named "Caught in the Undertow". The left was completed between 1981-82. The left side was entitled "Negative Influences". Caught in the Undertow measures 22" x 30". I think this is one of my most skeptical pieces. It is skeptical of the daily pleasures of one’s existence such as drinking and smoking and was done before smoking bans and alcohol ads were yanked out of magazines etc. The shot glass, the beer bottle and the Ale sign in the background represent alcohol, and the cigarette pack, smoking. The reflection in the mirror makes one reflect on their life, the skull represents death, but the eyes still in the skull show that what an artist creates his vision lasts much longer than his life. The skull reminds us that the other objects in the painting are short lived. Even the title “Caught in the Undertow” represents vanity or the frivolous quality of human existence and the pulling down and dragging under of one’s artistic soul. The green candle represents the fleeting quality of life, but here has never been lit, which symbolizes a wasted life. Even the Vanitas tradition in art itself has been carried on for centuries and symbolizes the skeptical nature of life, and to induce in the viewer a higher order of thought. The key element in any Vanitas painting is the skull among objects that are deemed pleasurable in life. The Vanitas is not about death, rather the right way to live. it reminds the viewer that the material world is not as long lived as the spiritual.