Shards of Ice Glass

The changing of seasons is upon us and with it memories of winter beach walks, winter beach grass – brownish, golden waiting for the warmth of the sunlight to replenish its green. When I took this photo, my blundstones giving perspective, I thought it looked like modern art or the realism of local artist and friend, Alan Bateman. It is a study on ice shards and the influence of the tide’s natural brushstrokes, creating polka dot edges, smooth clear cuts and ice droplets. I love the transparency of the shear, thin ice sheets as the grass lays “under glass”, potentially protected from outside interference. Blue tinges present themselves as if Vermeer had painted it himself. “What colour are the clouds?” he asks Griet, in the movie Girl with the Pearl Earring. She discovers the colours are more than just white. Ice shards reflect many hues, like the ocean, it depends on the lighting. Can you see anything else “under glass”? Shadows, faces, artifacts. Imagination prevails. A moment in time that day, a photo caught on modern canvas, only to be melted and washed away by the sea.