In our house, a clean kitchen is not a daily but an episodic phenomenon. As I write this, the sink and dish rack are empty and every dish is in its place but, days ago — look! I took a picture! — there were stacks in the sink and on the counter waiting to be washed. I especially like the way the shiny stainless steel spoons and forks nestle together in the stainless steel sauce pan in the stainless steel sink — steel on steel on steel. My wife and I are not lazy, no! We are creating art. Look! I took a picture! It may be evidence of aging. After all, I turn 80 today. But the photo is also evidence of something rare. Photogenic three-dimensional temporally-limited sculptures like these do not happen overnight; they are the work of days, each element individually placed in an aesthetically-pleasing arrangement. It is lovely, yes? God, I am told, loves the unwashed. Please tell me if I start to stink.
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Photo Prayer 2026-20. Photo of dirty stainless ware in the author’s stainless steel sink. Photo and text copyright 2026 by Danny Nelson Schweers.
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COMMENTS FROM eBLAST
Marty M. wrote:
Happy Birthday, Danny! ~ Glad to see you subscribe, as do I, to the cyclical art of stainless steel sculpture. Ephemeral yes, and repetitive, but also reliably life-enhancing and renewable. Wishing you many more good years of the clean/dirty/clean Mystery.
Ginny L. wrote:
Happy happy birthday! I always enjoy your emails but this was especially fun. Enjoy your day and celebrate!
Bobbie B. (former photography student at Del Art Museum) wrote:
Happy 80th birthday Danny! Keep on with your amazing creations in picture and word!
Bill M. wrote:
Happy Birthday!
Holly W. (former photography student at Del Art Museum) wrote:
Happy birthday, Danny! Great photo!
Nancy P. wrote:
Lovely!
Audrey C. wrote:
[five emojis] Happy Birthday Danny [five more emojis]
Alice V. E. wrote:
Very fun! Happy Birthday!
Rosemary C. wrote:
Happy 80th Danny!
John J. wrote:
Hi Danny! And let me add my happy birthday wishes and my appreciation for your artwork – both generally and this one specifically! It looks like you are 15 days younger than me. Does your wife appreciate the effort and patience that is required for you to create these wonderful “ephemeral” works!!!???
Denison H. wrote:
Happy Birthday, Danny!
Elaine H. wrote:
Love this, Danny. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (Love the cutlery. It is the same pattern we had at home when I was growing up!)
Pamela P. wrote:
Danny first of all Happy Birthday from my husband and I!! Have a fabulous day! I love the photo and your explanation of its design. Well done!
John J. S. wrote:
Happy Birthday!
Deacon Dottie V. wrote:
Love the idea and Happy Birthday. Many More.
Anne G. wrote:
Happy Birthday Danny!
David McB. wrote:
Danny, steel on steel on steel for you and your wife, happy 80. What’s it like on the other side of that threshold?
Mike C. wrote:
Great Art, and delightful to talk with you at the doctor’s office.
Royster H. wrote:
Danny, CONGRATULATIONS!! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! My wife turned 80 on Sept. 4. Hope all is well. Kitchen clutter art is not just in the eye of the beholder but in the God-given ability to see more than one meaning or one perspective in a single event/image. I am glad that God is able to look at me and see me in more than one way and love me still!
Larry and Faye G. wrote:
Happy Birthday Danny! Here’s hoping for more of a Keith Richard’s style 80 as opposed to a Mitch McConnell octogenarian.
Cookie O. wrote:
Happy Birthday!
Sandra B. wrote:
Happy birthday, Danny! I love your photogenic work of art!
Bernadette D. wrote:
Wow-I love this Danny, Thank You!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY too!!
Peggy H. wrote:
Love it. I will look at my stacks of unwashed dishes with a more aesthetic view point. Happy 80th!!
R.J. S. wrote:
Happy birthday, Danny!
Myrlène & Andy M. wrote:
Happy Birthday! Looks a lot like my sink.
Alice S. wrote:
Danny: Happy birthday. The 80th milestone is coming to me next May. The picture and photo prayer are great.
Beth T. wrote:
Happy Birthday, Danny!! You certainly are a youthful 80! I am very much enjoying your photo prayers, and I remember the silverware image from way back. I’ve always admired the way you see and appreciate everyday scenes/objects most of us never notice. Thanks for encouraging us to pay attention. Life’s too short to miss out!
Mike and Seonaid in Suffolk, England wrote:
Many Happy returns! God has blessed you both with creative gifts: what better use of your time than to use them – and for His glory…
Robin D. wrote:
Hi Danny, You have such an eye for design, such beauty here in the every day, the glory of these repetition of shapes. It makes me very happy to enjoy your photo this morning!
Anneliese S. wrote:
Happy belated birthday! You have enriched my life for quite a number of years now.
Thanks to your photo note cards, I have spread your “Art” around the country and the globe. Thank you for everything … I am sure many folks feel the same way about your work.
FROM FACEBOOK:
Jim J.
Happy birthday. Keep up the good work, old friend!
Melissa P.-J.
Ditto to what Jim said! Thankful for your unique vision and heart!
Carol K. M.
Sending happy birthday washes your way.
Cynthia B.
Happy birthday!
Mary C. M.
Happiest of Birthdays to you! May your next year be filled with many Blessings.
David H.
Happy Days, Danny! Love the tableware in B&W!
Linda W.
Happy birthday Danny and kept creating sink art!
Pam D. P.
Love this perspective! Happy Birthday
Susan S.
Happy birthday Danny!!
Michael F.
Great photo and post. Happy 80th!
Leon W.
HBD!
Renee A. D.
Have a wonderful birthday!
Elle L.
Make art. The dishes will wait for ya. Happy birthday!
Esther S.
Nice!
Allan K.
Fantastic Danny! And Happy Birthday to boot!
Connie H. G.
Happy Birthday, Danny. So many decades of art! This image reminds me of The Book of Days.
Ellyn H.
Love the lens from which you see and capture your photography. Happy birthday!
Christina B. L.
Happy New Decade! May the joy and blessings be unending and daily!! Love the photo and totally appreciate the story behind it as I can relate, even though I’m not creating art!
Janet S.
Happy birthday, Danny!
Brenda L.
Oh Danny you wonderful artist you!
Rose S.
Happy Birthday
DANNY REPLIED:
My wife is a co-creator of those kitchen-sink sculptures and is just as lazy as I am, and very patient with me and my photography. She is my favorite subject! As someone who worked summers and eventually full time in scientific research labs in the ‘60s and ‘70s — at the Navy Electronics Laboratory, Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Lab, MIT’s Lincoln Labs, and the University of Texas’s Fusion Research Lab — I feel responsible in a small way for the technological changes that have taken place in my lifetime. Perhaps some apologies are in order! I do feel like I have crossed a threshold. With 80 years behind me, I feel like I must be an old man but I cannot say that I feel like one. They say it’s not the years but the miles; well, my miles have been pretty smooth, even the mountain crossings, all except a few falls from cliffs. It helps to have you and others as friends. Thanks for your continued encouragement and friendship. “An eye for design” — I like that. Then again, all I am doing is looking. I feel like it is not my eye but the universe that is responsible for what I see, that the world is eager to show itself, its intricacies and surprise. You know! One friend said I was “a young 80”. If so, I know that good health can change in an instant. Not so with friendships, which endure and just seem to get better with age.
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