Keith 

Dave Macdowell's painting, Keith, presents two hands reaching toward each other, framed by an evocative dance of blue and fiery orange. Note the skull rings. Skulls, traditionally symbols of mortality, have appeared throughout art history, from vanitas paintings reminding us of life's fleeting nature to celebrations of Memento Mori, reflecting on our inevitable end. Yet, their significance isn't confined to the morbid. We can trace the skull's journey through time, finding it in various guises—pirate flags, punk rock emblems—each epoch imbuing it with new life, a testament to our complex relationship with death. Here, adorned on Keith's fingers, it might suggest a bold embrace of life's darker aspects. The hands, old, yet illuminated with vitality, hint at a story of life's burning intensity, echoing emotions that transcend time. They evoke a deep, subconscious recognition of life's cyclical progression, a familiar narrative endlessly retold in the theater of human experience.