I think of nail varnish and I think of a picture we had at home, framed by Mr. Swiss. It arrived in my household with Mr. Swiss and somehow disappeared from the apartment decorations over the years, so I asked where it was. He disappeared for a few moments in the cellar and returned withe the missing composition.

As you can see its origins were in 1965 when I was still in England and our paths had not yet crossed. The entire work is made of nail varnish: not that Mr. Swiss actually used it, but he worked in the office of a company somewhere in the depths of Switzerland that produced nail varnish.

It seems that the big containers holding the nail varnish production were emptied into smaller bottles and a certain amount of nail varnish was spilt. This was caught on cardboard sheets placed on the floor, so Mr. Swiss decided it was a good idea for something to hang on a wall. He did not actually mix it himself, it was all coincidence. His only artistic touch was to rescue the cardboard sheet and put a frame around it.

It still has the feel and touch of the nail varnish when I run my fingers over it. Some parts are smooth, others rough, and there are some interesting patterns woven into the mixtures. There is a crazy horse somewhere in the picture, more by luck than judgement and it is very abstract. The picture is now just over 60 years old, but a memory of our first days together, because it arrived with Mr. Swiss. I am glad he found it again in the cellar and am now thinking about where to hang it on a wall

So ladies do not throw away your nail varnish, it might be useful one day.

Daily Prompt: The Remainders of the Nail Varnish