Pacific Northwest Landscapes · horizontal

Hammered Light: Rippling Water Over Stones

A close view of clear water flowing over submerged stones. The ripples break the stones into a mosaic of small, glassy facets in tan, cream and brown. Dark, almost black gaps separate the stones, and a patch of warm orange glows at the upper right.

Someone wants this piece because the water, not the stones, is the subject. Ripples turn ordinary submerged rocks into a hammered, glass-like mosaic. Warm sunlight lights the facets against near-black gaps, and one small patch of amber glows at upper right. It is a nature image that reads almost as abstract, with an earthy brown, black and beige palette that settles into a finished room instead of competing with it.

Artwork by Omaste Witkowski