That is Priceless by Steve Melcher for October 13, 2020

“I think I’ll call you Wilson. Or in honor of Fleetwood Mac, ‘Gold Dust Woman’. “

You are witnessing the creation of sand soup.

He’d been so lonely, till he made friends with the face in the bottom of the pan.

He had a good throwing arm and a pan that could fly like a frisbee. Now if he only had a dog to fetch it, because to be honest, running 100 yards to catch the darn thing was getting mighty old.

jeb wondered why it was always his turn to empty the bedpan…

Daniel dug digging dirt, but it was only in the river he could demonstrate his panhandling skill! Would Mother Nature show him a kind generosity? Or would she pass him by with averted gaze? Would there be gold dust at his feet, on the sunny side upbeat? “Daniel, you’re a star in the face of the sky!” and we will miss you as time goes by!

“Dammit, diamonds again, I want gold!.”

Found the cyclops’s missing contact lens.

You gotta feel bad for the man./ To the assayer’s office he ran/ with what he thought was gold/ where he had to be told/ it was only “a flash in the pan”/

And meanwhile, a craftier sleaze/ made a fortune on suckers like these/ with a fake “university”/ and damning diversity/ with a special dislike for Chinese…

Jeramiah raised the pan to his face and squinted, YES, there it was at last, his contact lens.

“It’s not really an antique, but I believe it will be collectible—if I can find the right buyer.”

“Perfect….made in China. No wonder I’m not finding any gold. “

Bruce thought he would get more gold by whispering sweet nothings to his pan.

Jeb still hasn’t realized that the only guy getting rich from panning gold is the man at the bottom of the mountain selling the shovels & pickaxes .

This pan is MINE and that little gold-digger’s not getting her hands on it.

Don’t pan it until you’ve tried it.

Daniel still couldn’t figure out how to empty water from the bowl, despite the instructions being printed on the underside.

My Precious!

Every one was tired of Jeremiah repeating, “Look, I’m Nipper the RCA dog.”

Jeremiah, not being very bright, thought he could put his ear to it and hear the ocean.

I paid for the flash, but I don’t see no flash!

Hmmm, find 3 more of these and I can put them on my ’57 Chevy.

Joseph Smith noticing for the first time that the pan he had been using to pan for gold was actually made of gold AND that it had writing on it: JESUS WAS HERE

“I went to ’49s Gold Mining Camp and all I got to show for it is this lousy pan!”

Little-known archeologist Indiana Smith discovers the Lost Salad Bowl of the Mesopotamians.

The series "Flip This Pan " never really caught on.

“Who the hell is Levi Strauss?”

“Sutter’s Mill,” a cheerful song by the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Hadn’t thought of it in years, til now.

The prospector: 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Julian_Ashton_-_The_prospector_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg 

has info and links that point to info about this roughly lifesize painting.

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/ashton_julian.html 

https://www.wikiart.org/en/julian-ashton 

https://www.wga.hu/bio_m/a/ashton/biograph.html 

http://all-art.org/DICTIONARY_of_Art/a/Ashton1.htm 

https://www.askart.com/artist/Julian_Rossi_Ashton/11086177/Julian_Rossi_Ashton.aspx 

https://prabook.com/web/julian.ashton/3742764 

http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/ashton-julian-rossi-5073 

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ashton-julian-rossi-5073 

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/an-introduction-to-the-paintings-and-watercolours-by-julian-rossi-ashton-at-the-national-gallery-of-victoria/ 

all have info, or links that point to more info, about the artist (again, askart.com can be read in full for free on Fridays), perhaps in addition to what’s pointed to by the title URL. This is a different caption repeat of the only work by him used here so far. 

https://www.gocomics.com/that-is-priceless/2016/10/06?comments=visible 

has the prior caption (my first comment there included one of the artist info URLs; my second comment there isn’t about this painting per se, but may be informative).

Again, a larger strip image is shown by (⌘- or Ctrl-) clicking the image in Mr. Melcher’s MASTERPIECE #2555 (October 12, 2020) blog entry, accessible by the Check out the blog! box after the last comment.

Jed was getting discouraged looking for gold in the hospital’s bed pans.

After 10 hours of hard work he made $3.50

Looks like the gold in them thar hills is still in them thar hills.

instead of gold, Nicky wanted to see if Johnny left a note as to where he went, Nicky is heartbroken.

“Still nothing? I guess it’s time to go down to the billabong and see if I can grab me a jumbuck.”