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Rust Against Blue, Valve Wheel and Water

A rusted metal valve wheel with six spokes and a tall threaded stem sits in sharp focus in the foreground. Behind it, blurred blue water reflects the sky, and dark wet rocks line the upper left. The surface has a smooth, painterly texture.

Someone wants this piece because it is a rare, specific subject done in a warm-against-cool colour pairing that is easy to picture on a wall. A rusty six-spoke valve wheel is in sharp focus. Its threaded stem rises against a soft blue wash of sky-reflecting water. The flaking orange metal is set against calm blue and dark gray rock. It reads as industrial and quiet at once, and the painterly finish makes it feel more like a painting than a record of an object. It suits a collector who likes weathered, worn things and wants a colour-led, horizontal piece that is not another landscape or flower.

Artwork by Omaste Witkowski