A year or so before, I'd been in Joe's studio talking about his then recent acrylic painting, Arcanum for Patron Grey No. 1. The Arcanum painting presents a panoramic view of whimsical creatures working together to communicate through a microphone and a wire into the earphone of a winged girl perched on a cliff; the girl speaks into what looks to be a can with a string. In the background, we see a yellow-ochre sky. I admired the effect of the clouds, their shimmery, vapory look. It's close, said Joe. But it's not quite it.