I participated in this year’s juried Flat Out Under Pressure in collaboration with Greenville’s Metropolitan Arts Council (MAC). Beginning on a Friday morning, artists present their blank canvases to be time-stamped. Twenty-four hours later, each returns a finished work.

My entry this year is based on a scene I observed a few month ago. I pass by this little fireworks stand often. On a particular day, it was closed and a storm was brewing. It struck me as a poignant scene, a subtle comment on the country’s mood as we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The composition is simple. The bottom half is dominated by the nearly white rectangle of the converted shipping container. The yellow/red signs and the white window panels create more rectangles within rectangles. The festive flags, lazily wave in the breeze, pointing upward to the storm.

The top half, dark and loosely painted, contrasts with the brightly-colored, structured bottom.