The opening words of Genesis are the first words God speaks in scripture, and the first thing he calls into being is light. I wanted the lettering itself to feel like an utterance — quick, certain, and warm — so I drew the majuscules in a single sitting after Lauds, before the day had settled.

The gold is shell gold rather than leaf, laid in three thin coats and burnished with an agate. It catches candlelight differently than electric light, which felt right for a verse that predates the sun.