Currently, the price of gold is about $1220 per Troy Ounce, nevertheless, gold, like property, appears to fluctuate in value. The principal and obvious ingredient in Peter Lapsley's art is gold, which he sees as a commodity, much as property is a commodity. Right now the price of gold seems to be rising, whereas property prices tend to vary, depending on location. Here in Bermuda, recent property values seems to have plateaued or even declined in some instances.

In order to reinforce the concept of property and gold as commodities, however, the images that Peter Lapsley uses in his current exhibition in the Rick Faries Gallery at the Masterworks Museum, are 24-caret gold-leaf architectural silhouettes on glass. Most are obviously inspired by Bermudian house architecture, particularly roofs and chimneys. A few are also of New York buildings, where Mr. Lapsley has been living and studying, the last few years.

The application of gold leaf on glass is no mean feat. Having done some gilding in the past, I know something of the difficulties of using gold leaf. It is incredibly fine and any little breeze or even breathing will cause the leaf to tear or disintegrate. On top of that, in order to apply the leaf to glass successfully, you have to move very slowly. Gilders use various kinds of materials upon which to lay the gold. When I was doing it, I used a oil-based gilders varnish. Lapsley makes use of a water-based acrylic gilders varnish, which is a new product to me, but having used other acrylic products, I can see an advantage, especially in applying gold leaf to glass.

In picture framing, glass is usually employed to protect the art being framed. The idea that glass should be the ground upon which the art is applied, brings it closer to stained-glass, however, in Peter Lapsley's case, the use of glass as ground, is only one part of the work of art. The glass is set in a shadow-box frame, so that the light shining on and through the glass, casts a shadow on a white board beneath the glass, from the gold silhouette above. Since the gold was laid on the top side of the glass, Lapsley did take the precaution of placing a second, protective piece of glass above the gold, however.

As a way of adding another dimension to his art, Lapsley has also painted a particular colour underneath the gold silhouette, in such a manner, as to create a coloured reflection on the shadow. This is a subtle element, as the actual colour is not visible, except as reflected colour. As for his use of colour, in a number of instances, he has used pink, but in other cases, green or blue. The pink is, quite consciously, something of a clever take on the pink cottage syndrome. The exhibition is entitled, Commodity and Desire.

Next door to this exhibition, in the Butterfield Family Gallery, the current exhibition is a celebration of Bermudian architecture. It is called, Our House....A Welcome Home. I find the synergy that is created between these two shows, fascinating.

This exhibition continues only through today, so there are only a day left to see it. This is, however, a highly creative show that is worth seeing.