What began as ten minutes cleaning one pantry shelf became a reminder that sometimes the things we think we've lost are simply waiting behind everything we've accumulated around them.
© Laurie Pace Graphics One Design 2026 Waiting There for You Oil on Canvas SOLD by Laurie Pace Ten Minutes in the Pantry I told myself I would spend ten minutes cleaning out one pantry shelf. Twenty-five minutes later, I had discovered two bags of organic flour that expired in 2024, dehydrated blueberries I don't remember ordering, four containers of baking soda, crackers missing since last March, and an unopened bottle of lemon juice—also from 2024. Out they went. There wasn't a single expired can. It was simply one overcrowded shelf where little things had disappeared behind other little things. When I finished, I stood there thinking: There. I can see what I have again. Then the morning made its point twice. I found this screenshot of an older painting in one of my computer folders. I know I painted it, probably sometime between 2018 and 2022. I cannot remember its title, and I haven't yet found the original...