The memento mori, or Vanitas, is a reminder of mortality. Dutch still life painting was more about portraying the differences between things than the things themselves. Differences in levels of lustre and texture on varying surfaces was the subject. Working under the aegis of an NEA Artists in Institution grant adapting traditional printmaking techniques for developmentally challenged artists, I developed a method I call the plexicut, a technique artist Robert Bechtle once descibed as "sort of a poor man's mezzotint". These prints are part of a series I call Vanitas that was intended to demonstrate the potential of this simple relief printmaking technique. Not shown here yet is the Apostles series, portraits of artists and others also done in plexicut. These two series are the only work I've ever done that derive from photographs. Curiously, these prints appear the largest on my website, but are the smallest of the actual works. All are either 6 x 6 or 6 x 9 inches.