Prism of Play

As I explored what colored pencil could become in my hands, I found myself drawn again and again to light — how it bends, reflects, distorts, and reveals. Water droplets were my first fascination, but I didn’t want to remain confined to a single subject. I wanted something that carried the same sense of reflection and transparency yet opened a new door.
That’s when I rediscovered marbles.
I grew up at a time when marbles were still traded and treasured on the playground, long before they became “vintage” collectibles. Mon Dieu, the ones I remembered from childhood were now considered artifacts. This study became my first attempt at capturing a vintage marble in colored pencil — its faint blue tint, the reversed world inside its reflection, the textures and colors suspended within the glass.
When I finished the piece, I surprised myself… and my teacher. My father was so proud that he showed it to his bowling friends, telling them his daughter had made it. With a mischievous smirk, he relayed their reaction: after seeing the image, they asked if I was a glassblower.
This artwork explores the luminous world within a single vintage marble, where color, reflection, and shadow converge in unexpected ways. Rendered in colored pencil with careful attention to transparency and depth, it captures the playful movement of light as it bends through glass. Subtle highlights, soft reflections, and layered hues reveal the quiet magic held inside these small childhood treasures.
Explore the piece and see how a simple marble becomes a prism of color, memory, and motion.