"Vanitas Still Life" a modern take on the vanitas meme. I always wondered why anyone in the 17th and 18th centuries needed reminding of death amid wars, floods, famine and plague, and no antibiotics. But then again, is today any different? Even a tin-foil hat won't prevent the inevitable. I learned that a cousin that I had recently connected with through art had passed away while I was working on this painting, and I really wish that we had more time, or just had made better use of it.