Still Life

I think I bought flowers that have been fed some sort of steroid! They've lasted beautifully for almost 2 weeks - I can't believe they're still in tact. At least it's given me an opportunity to complete the still life. I've come up with another idea so I'll block that in really quickly before they wilt on me.
I was thinking about Goya when I considered the whole political environment I spoke about previously. Activist art doesn't really appeal to me and I remember having to study Goya's work and finding it disturbing and hard to look at. I remember reading a quote years ago about being careful not to stare into an abyss for too long because of how it affects you (I'm paraphrasing horribly now - I've probably lost the impact of the quote, but that was the gist of it) and when I look at activist art - it's as though the artist becomes so overwhelmed and burdened by the horrors of war, political corruption or whatever it is, that they become disillusioned with humanity and begin to view the world through tainted cynism. Suddenly, every subject they tackle is plagued with all that is vile in humanity and society.
I suppose on the opposite end of the spectrum you have artists who only ever see the nobility and beauty of humanity.
Yin and yang!
Will post an update of the still life tonight.