These are the real Painters of Light

OK. We’ve never been much of a fan of Thomas Kinkade, the self-proclaimed “Painter of Light.” Too misty, pastel and sentimental for our tastes.

But public radio’s “Science Friday” has introduced us to a couple artists who really do paint with light.

Maybe, as a kid, you played around with a camera and a flashlight at night, setting the camera for a long exposure and waving the flashlight to create squiggles of light on the film. Artists Michelle McSwain and Ryan Warnberg do something similar, and to more impressive effect, with colorful LED lights.

And because it’s a show about science, they explain why your eye doesn’t see images like this all the time.

Here’s “Science Friday”s video about their work.