I completed the "Burning Bush Triptych" yesterday afternoon. The photo is a bit skewampus but the colors are pretty accurate.
I wish I could say that the last-minute decision to gild the fruit on the thorn bush was primarily motivated by theology, but actually, I realized that there needed to be something more in the background to balance the dominance of the gilding of the figures of the Mother of God and Jesus.
In other words, the gilding of the figures made the burning bush recede so much that it almost disappeared.
That said, I also realized that if I didn't balance out the figures in the foreground and the background, it would be distracting during prayer. (This icon is for the prayer corner in my studio, which means I'll be praying with it a lot).
