Glenn Michael Morley

OPTICS

in my current consulting role I am designing and developing electro-opto-mechanical systems - that prompted a graduate course study in Optics via MIT online open courseware - at first optics quite frankly seems a bit boring unless as a child you were completely enthralled with a magnifying glass - telescope or microscope - there IS that part to it - the rudimentary - but where it gets more interesting is in the study of the medium itself - light - and how optical lens - mirrors - apertures - prisms and the rest affect the light path particularly when arranged in a large set linear array of optics - there are two levels of study: the geometric and physical optics - you can consider it sort of traditional and modern split - the latter however brings in the electromagnetic properties of light and also includes modern theory of light as quanta - you have no doubt heard of lasers but while  quantum optics includes this - I think there is still more on offer - in short it has some fascinating applications and interest - as my paintings are in general focused on the creation of colour - the study of optics reveals the critical role light plays in brining out those colours - I think painters - someone like a Monet for instance were inherently experts in light to be so skilled in creating colours and combinations of colour - many of his paintings strongly reflect the interplay between light and the colours he painted - perhaps we could call classify him as an "optical painter" such was his deep understanding of light - it is quite clear he was extremely sensitive to light and the colours it produced in his eyes - his shades of colours or more apt the breadth and depth of his colour pallete reflect this ...