Painting Between Light and Shadow, artist Anna Dub

• Artist: Anna Dub
• Title: "Between Light and Shadow"
• Year: 2026
• Size: 80 × 120 cm
• Materials: oil on canvas, palette knife
• Original hand-painted artwork

"Between Light and Shadow" is a vertical floral still life built on the contrast between two halves of the background. A tall bouquet stands in a clear vase that is only hinted at near the bottom edge of the canvas. Lilac and pale blue delphinium spikes rise upwards, while large peonies open below: a bright pink one on the left, a white one in the centre and a pale pink one on the right. A small light flower on a separate stem is set off to the right edge and balances the heavy mass of the bouquet. The left side of the canvas is flooded with a bright, almost white glow, the right side sinks into deep blue, and the flowers sit exactly on the border between these two spaces — which is what the title refers to.

The painting is done in oils, with most of the forms sculpted with a palette knife. The peony petals are laid in thick impasto slabs: in the light the paint forms raised ridges and chips that are clearly visible in the close-ups. The delphinium spikes are built from small, broken touches, and the background is worked in long vertical drags through which the weave of the canvas shows here and there. This makes the surface feel alive: in some places the paint lies in a dense layer, in others it seems to scatter in fine splashes. The artist's signature and the date "26" are in the lower right corner. Here the palette knife acts not only as a tool but also as a means of drawing: sharp cuts of paint define the edges of the petals, while soft drags convey the air between the stems.

The colour scheme rests on the meeting of cool and warm. The deep ultramarine and cobalt of the right side give way on the left to pearly grey and milky tones, and against this background the pink, crimson and lilac shades of the flowers sound especially rich. The green of the stems and leaves is muted, with olive and emerald notes, while rare golden sparks flash in the dark part of the background. The mood is cool, evening-like and a little pensive: the light still seems to linger in the petals, although the space around them is already sinking into dusk.

Anna Dub is a contemporary Ukrainian painter. Her main themes are floral compositions, expressive still lifes and symbolic painting, and she uses colour, rhythm and composition as independent means of expression. Since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, painting has become for her a way of making sense of reality and finding inner support, and the motif of preserving one's inner light runs through many of her works.

The vertical 80 × 120 cm format works well on a pier wall in a living room, in a bedroom or in a study with high ceilings. The blue-and-pink palette looks natural in interiors with white, grey or dark blue walls, as well as next to wood and textiles in natural shades. The painting is a fine gift for a woman who loves flowers and painting with an expressive, textured surface. The relief of the paint reads best under side light, so it is worth planning the lighting: the palette-knife texture will then change throughout the day.