When you see a photograph like this for the first time, what do you notice?  Is it gross and creepy?  Do you see it for what it simply is, paint and sawdust?  Do you notice the stirring stick or the black sludge first? 

To me it's all about the texture.  I loooove good texture in a photo, when it feels like you can reach out and touch it (even if it is a little ooky).  After I took this shot and put it up on my computer, I wanted to take my finger and wipe that first layer of sawdust off the stirring stick.  Just an impulse. 

No, I did not make this bucket of muck.  One of the painters did about a week ago and just left it sitting there.   At first I wanted to yell at them for leaving such a mess behind.  Obviously I've changed my mind.