Description
Sparks in the Night – gold dust in smoke
Painting on canvas powders clusters of gold grain across smoke grey, charcoal black and a velvet dark — abstract painting that falls apart into dust at close range and assembles into a night sky from further off.
Technique and texture
The ground is painted wet into wet with no hard edges, the greys running into one another like smoke. Over it the gold clusters are laid, standing above the surface like fine sand and forming the only relief in the picture. In places the colour is dispersed so thinly that the weave of the canvas shows through it.
The motif
A darker vertical axis crosses the middle, and the densest gold clusters gather around it — the largest right above the centre, two smaller below it. Toward the upper left the smoke thins nearly to white and opens like a gap in cloud. The lower left corner is by contrast almost black and holds the picture down. The gold nowhere gathers into a shape; it stays scattered.
Setting and placement
Directed light is what brings the grain up; in flat daylight the picture keeps its smoke and gives up its sparks.
- Technique: hand-painted painting on canvas, wet-into-wet smoked ground, raised gold grain clusters, thinly dispersed passages showing the weave
- Palette: smoke grey, charcoal black, gold, near-white
- Ideal for: hallways, living rooms, bedrooms
- Character: nocturnal, granular, atmospheric
Choose the size that suits your wall.
Sparks in the Night for tall walls
Sparks in the Night is a portrait-format painting in 14 sizes, from 40 x 80 to 180 x 360 cm. A narrow wall between doors needs only 40 x 80 or 50 x 100 cm, while beside an armchair or above a console about 90 cm wide the gold clusters sit well at 60 x 120 cm. A tall stairwell wall carries 90 x 180 or 100 x 200 cm, letting the smoky grey ground open over its full height.
The first photograph shows the painting in an optional pale frame on a wall beside a dark dining table, and the second photograph next to a leather armchair and a side table with gold vases. No frame is included, and the Frame menu starts at Without frame. Select YES under Stretcher and the canvas with its gold grain arrives stretched on a wooden stretcher, ready to hang. The gold grain and smoky greys are hand-painted, so this is not a print. Delivery takes 15–45 days.
Questions about Sparks in the Night
Which size of Sparks in the Night goes beside an armchair?
Beside an armchair or above a slim console the gold grain spreads well at 60 x 120 cm, and on a taller wall at 70 x 140 cm.
Is the pale frame included with Sparks in the Night?
No, the pale frame is optional and added in the Frame menu, otherwise Sparks in the Night arrives Without frame.
How long does delivery of Sparks in the Night take?
For all 14 sizes of the gold-in-smoke canvas, 15–45 days.
Can I get Sparks in the Night in a size that is not listed?
Yes, the gold sparks on smoky grey can be painted to your measurements – write to us through paintings made to order.
