The Moon and Sixpence is virtually monochromatic and has an unusual composition as well, which adds to the mood of the painting. This began as a demonstration of mixed media at the Hill Country Arts Foundation and was finished at home.

Somerset Maugham’s novel by the same title came to mind as I painted the two trees with a pearl like moon framed between the two trunks. After finishing the picture I reread the novel and was again reminded how unlike the life of Paul Gauguin it really was.

Perhaps the novel I should have been reading was John Steinbeck’s The Pearl. The message here may be about the comparison of values physical and values spiritual. There is an element of the surreal here.