DIAPHANOUS Coasters

Talk about a surface saver! These 3.75 x 3.75 IN. coasters are perfect for when the heat is on or your glass has the cold sweats. The tempered masonite tops are cushioned by a cork bottom and easy to keep clean with a quick brushoff using a damp cloth. Each set features a print of an original painting from the collection of Jennifer S. Levine. What better way is there to add a pop of color to your table?

ABOUT THE PAINTING:

DIAPHANOUS: Acrylic on canvas, 1 x 1 FT.

Diaphanous means very sheer and light, almost completely transparent or translucent. I’ve always loved this word for the way it flows. When said aloud, it’s soft, like a fabric it might describe. I tried to reflect that in the delicate, warm and round layers. I’ve used this word in poetry and prose, usually describing a texture at night. It’s also a strange word. It reminds me of being told as a child that Eskimos have a hundred words for snow. Though, as an adult, I think that’s a rather simplified way to understand the language of a people whose existence is so interdependent on climate that they need to understand the nuances of frozen water and powdered horizons to survive. I’m reminded of this with “diaphanous” because it’s purpose seems abstract. It describes, yet bares no concrete need. It seems a word strictly meant for poetry, a word of leisure and elegance. If one were to wear a diaphanous gown, it’s not to keep warm or for modesty or to go out gardening on a hot day. How many other words do we have that lend themselves to the romance of poetry?