Click on the images to look at or buy original paintings

Without the physical properties of light there would be no art. White light is made up of a spectrum of colours (Red,Orange,Yellow,Green,Blue,Indigo and Violet). The chemical properties of pigments (for example in paint) absorb some of these spectrum colours and reflect others. The reflected colour is what our eye can see. Reflection happens because the frequency of the light wave does not match the frequency of the pigment. So paintings which appear to be stationary, static, inert objects are actually vibrating all the time.

Pondering About The Future by artist Vivi Karakatsani

When cavemen painted on walls, the only light source they would have had to illuminate their work would have been a flame from burning animal fats. Wicks were added later and pottery lamps were used for centuries.
Although different types of oils were used for lighting the oil lamps did not come on the scene until the 18th century
Coal gas was used in 1794 and Kerosene lamps became popular after drilling for petroleum started in the mid 19th century.

From the 18th Century, gas lighting was the most commonly used to light streets in towns. Electric lamps were not invented until the later 19th century and although nearly every home in the uk now has an electrcity supply surprisingly, the supply was not available until the 1940s or later.

Light has enticed and fascinated artists over the centuries. How does one capture its ever altering translucent beauty onto a canvas? How can a two dimensional canvas trick the eye into seeing rounded figures and objects under different light?

Best of all, with electricity and light filaments and bulbs - the arrival of good 24 hour illumination (with the equally recent phenomenon of a little spare income), meant that aspiring artists no longer had to be from an affluent background or to starve persuing their ambitions. A hopeful artist could earn an honest crust elsewhere and in thier leisure time, persue their artistic ambitions.
More of the working class could now contribute to the "Art World" without their families starving.

No longer is art the persuit of a privilaged or obsessed impoverished minority, painting is popular occupation either part time or full time worldwide. Books, newspapers, television, National Galleries and the Internet can educate us all - you no longer have to apply for courses run by art faculties. Narrow minded boundaries have crumbled like the Berlin Wall in the 21st Centuty. Definitions of what "should" be painted and who is a "fine" artist - what is acceptable as "good" art are now subjective opinions of the critical elite. Art is for everybody. Light up your life. Buy contempory art. Become an art collector.