Show Me the Glint of Light

Mock Orange Blossoms in a Crystal Glass

12" x 9"

2011

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. 

~Anton Chekhov

Though this is a small painting of a simple subject - flowers in a glass - it was still beautifully challenging to paint.  To differentiate the planes of the flower petals and to articulate their structure was difficult because white must be subtly shaded.

Detail of 

Mock Orange Blossoms in a Crystal Glass

12" x 9"

2011

I learn something new every time I paint glass.  Every single time the light is reflected through it in a unique way.  The facets of the crystal in this particular glass break the light up into little prisms of colour - so that there is the rather magical appearance of orange and blue and green.  The subject of this painting, for me, is the contrast - between the light reflections on the nearly opaque surfaces of the flower petals, and the high gloss transparency of the crystal glass and the glass table.  The contrast between glint and gloss, you could say.