I think this is the most unusual gilding project I've ever been asked to do. This is a long slender purpose built alcove in a staircase that has a light shining down through it. Today I gilded it with a client and she asked me to leave the gold leaf in its natural state. When leaf is applied to a surface like this, some pieces of the gold don't always attach. Usually when the gold adhesive dries, I'll take a soft brush and remove all the tiny pieces of gold that haven't attached. But my client didn't want that. She loved the gold floating and looking ragged. It took me a while to get my head around that, but when I saw the light shining down through the leaf I realised what an amazing thing she'd designed. It's beautiful! The light catches all the tiny moving fragments of gold and it really looks wonderful. Am so impressed. I've been gilding for years and no one has ever asked me to leave a surface rough before, it is a new concept for me and I really love the look.
