Swan Sofa

These were my swans when they first came to me. The gesso was filthy and all the gold had been completely worn away. There is no paint on the swans, just original gesso and fresh gesso where there were cracks and breaks. The gesso has been waxed to protect it. I hope they never get as dirty again as they were when they first arrived!

And here they are now. I was very happy that the client was intent on keeping the burnish very high and not distressing the gold. I think ageing the fresh gold on this piece wouldn't have worked. The sofa's on its way to Moscow. I feel sad about that. I know it will be well loved by its new owner, but I fell passionately for these swans when I was working on them.

Gilding The Lily.

White gold and rose gold. 

Using Gilder's Tools

Holding a gilder's pad is a very personal thing. I'm so used to working with my pad that I really have to think about what I do when I describe the process to a student. You can never touch the knife blade, because any grease on it will mean the gold leaf will stick to it and be ruined. You can't touch the gold leaf with your fingers because it will disintegrate. You need to use water so you have a gilder's mop (a squirrel brush), but if you get water on your gilder's tip (another squirrel brush), it won't work. You do need grease on your gilder's tip though! The best way to master everything is to watch it being done. So much of working with gold is about how things feel and look. The pad will eventually become an extension of your arm, and the gold leaf will move in exactly the way you want it to.

Spend Time Learning the Techniques of Verre Eglomise

Here I am watching Sue's brushwork like a hawk. Not that I needed to, she's extremely creative and picks things up effortlessly. I really enjoy watching students learn a process. Especially with glass gilding because if you begin with a simple stage and carefully add detail after detail you end up with a really beautiful result.

In this picture I'm demonstrating how to open up a colour by adding gold to the glaze. There is nothing like watching how to do something and then trying it yourself. I learnt gilding by watching and copying every step that my master demonstrated (yes that does sound oddly Victorian, but I was apprenticed to Rosaria Titian of Titian Studios and she was a brilliant artist and deserved the title). I don't think there's any substitute for that kind of connection when you're learning a craft. If you'd like to do a class in Verre Eglomise contact me at londongilding@gmail.com

Gilding In My Studio

Gilded Lilies. This is white gold leaf rather than silver. It's a finer, softer leaf, and has a more delicate colour.



Some of my much loved, much used brushes. They're like old friends. The gilded Verre Eglomise Painting behind is called "Falling Petals" and is gilded in rose gold leaf.

My adored pigment box. In the background is a Chinoiserie Verre Eglomise panel based on a wallpaper sample.

Sigh. I really did mean to clean up.

One of my most thumbed books. I use it constantly. The Verre Eglomise frame has a pattern I created for a much larger frame finished in black and 24 carat gold. It works well in blue and 22 carat though.

Photographs by Rhian Ap Gruffydd http://www.rhianaphotography.com/

Gilder's Tools and Class Details

This is my pigment colouring box. It's been used by restorers for a lot longer than I've been around and was given to me by a great friend who's also in the business. Gilder's tools are a bit special. You end up cherishing brushes, and your gold knife feels like part of you when you cut the leaf. Opening up a parcel full of gilder's equipment is a pretty unusual experience. Gold leaf, squirrel brushes, rabbit skin glue, a pigskin pad, a dog's tooth agate. All the materials gilders use haven't changed for centuries.

Gold Leaf Supplies have a glass gilding kit that I recommend students buy for my Verre Eglomise Courses http://www.goldleafsupplies.co.uk/ It's great value (£64.95 plus VAT & postage) and full of Gilder's goodies that will delight you. It has everything you'll need to gild glass. It's worth investing in if you want to gild glass, or contact me if you don't know how to do it and would like to learn. My next group class is on the 14th of May at J Hornsby http://www.jhornsbyinteriors.co.uk/ and costs £150.00 for the day. Contact me at londongilding@gmail.com for booking details.

Gilding Courses

A student took this picture of me in the studio. Where possible, I do like to work on antiques while I'm teaching. That way the skills aren't just about how to do them in the perfect setting. If you're working on an antique, all sorts of unexpected things can happen, and that's when a restorer has to draw on their experience and creativity. A student can't learn any of that by gilding a new frame. Antique gold is a world away from new gold. To tone leaf to match something from the 18th Century is a very different process from putting a wash of Shellac over fresh gold. If you want to restore gilding, you need to know how to age a surface. If you want to learn how to do that, I can teach you. It's more advanced than studying how to lay gold leaf, but if you want to master toning techniques, it will really help you get an authentic look to your gold when working on antiques.

Teaching In Your Home

This is a picture of a lovely artist I was teaching to gild yesterday. If you're great company, artistic and make me a delicious lunch (thank you Susan) I'll consider working with you in your own home. Seriously, you don't have to cook for me! I can teach onsite in the London area. It you want to master gilding I can show you all you'll need in a day. Contact me at londongilding@gmail.com for details. It's great fun!

Rose Crystal

This is a rose crystal effect in verre eglomise. The red and violet really glow and sparkle as they're backed in two different golds. I really enjoy making faux crystal in verre eglomise, it's a great excuse to play with colours.

Gold Leaf on White Polished Plaster

This is Tsunami on Charlotte Street http://www.tsunamirestaurant.co.uk/ I gilded the flowers on their walls in 24 carat. I think the gold on the polished plaster looks incredible. I'm quoting this weekend for a job that's similar in its approach and I'm really happy that people are willing to use gold in unusual ways. Gold is so versatile, as you can see from this blog! It's just that often people think it has to be used in a traditional interior. That it's only for Empire chairs or Regency mirrors, posssibly a picture frame. But that's really not the case at all.

Mother of Pearl Effect

Thank goodness for professional photographers, my pictures of verre eglomise are pretty awful. I'll have good photos next week. In the meantime, here's a shot of my mother of pearl glass gilding. I use moongold to soften the back colour. Traditionally, gilders use silver, but I find the silver too bright and harsh. Moongold softens the wash and gives it a creamy warm colour. This effect is one of a series I'm doing for Gold Leaf Supplies, and I'll also be teaching students how to do it on my May course (14th May at J. Hornsby 150 Old Brompton Road) Email me for details.

White Gold Lilies

I Love the lilies in white gold. It works even better than the 24 carat. This is a quick phone pic, will have the photographer's photos next week.

Clare Lewis's Gold Shoes

More Gold Shoes! Am just back from seeing Clare Lewis's private view of "What We Will Know Tomorrow" at Shoreditch Town Hall. What an amazing venue for her work. I loved it. The basement is a beautiful warren of deserted rooms with half ripped out fireplaces and stripped walls. I knew she had gold shoes somewhere, but I really had to search for them, and I felt like I was looking for Cinderella. She has other casts of shoes that are ghostly white and so fragile. I had to use a torch to find them. They were quite scary glimmering in the dark. They looked like skeletal shoes. The gold shoes are different. The shoes they were cast from were old, and yet the gold is so perfect. I like that they look well worn and yet have such a professional finish. It helps that Clare is such a good gilder! It's such a pleasure to see a fine artist using traditional artisan skills.

Verre Eglomise Tips

. Am getting ready to do a shoot tomorrow with Gold Leaf Supplies http://www.goldleafsupplies.co.uk/ Am producing a range of Verre Eglomise for next Christmas that GLS will feature. Some of the designs are based on traditional faux finishes; Malachite, Lapiz, Mother of Pearl and Tortoiseshell. Below is a picture of the Lapiz, with a few tips on how to achieve the look

Flake 24 carat gold into the coloured areas and back with 12 carat white gold leaf. Have a go if you'd like to yourself, GLS sell a great glass gilding kit that I helped them put together. If it's still a bit difficult and you'd like some help with the process, email me about glass gilding course details. I am running one mid may in London at J Hornsby http://www.jhornsbyinteriors.co.uk/

Naturally Aged Silver Leaf

This is my studio door. It's silver leaf left to oxidise however it wants. I love the way it slowly changes. At the moment there is a soft pinkish hue to the silver and very pretty spots of tarnishing.

A Rather Large Mirror

Have to decide how to gild this. Moongold maybe? So nice to have a free hand on what to do. I gilded a large mirror last year in Moongold and it looked so incredible. Think doing the same thing in this bathroom would be gorgeous. Will have a think.

Out of Chaos, Order.

This room may look a little disorganised. It may look somewhat confused. Perhaps even a bit ramshackle. But there is nothing imprecise about the upholstery that is finished here. Look at this image of a Russian Empire Bergere finished in silk. This upholstery shop is at http://www.ajbrett.co.uk/ I know a few very good upholsterers in London. I think Bretts have one of the best. The work is hand stitched and finished to perfection.

Gilded Church Panel

This is a pretty awful picture (sorry!) of parts of a church panel I've been gilding. It's so big that it was cut into three sections. This is it in the spray booth. Traditionally, oil gilding was protected by a shellac based finish. These days, gold is often sprayed with a two-pack clear lacquer. It can give the leaf a very lovely finish. The only problem I've found with this technique, is that silver and white gold can go a little green as even the clear lacquers seem to have a slight yellow tint to them. With yellow gold that isn't a problem at all. If anything, it adds to the depth of the colour.

Restoring Chinoiserie Lacquer

This chinoiserie table has raised gesso work on it. The gold is laid over the gesso and then toned to match the original. All the white areas are being recreated. Gesso is a mixture of whiting and rabbit skin glue. It can be worked like a paint and then rubbed down to a very smooth surface. These techniques haven't changed since the first European furniture was made to copy the Japanese and Chinese lacquer. I can tell how old a piece is as the style changes over time, but technically the decorative techniques are always the same.

Restoring Urushi Lacquer

I'm seeing more chinoiserie and urushi in the studio these days. It's one of my favourite types of furniture to restore, so I'm really happy about that. When I was an apprentice I loved working on lacquer furniture. It took me a long time to develop enough skill to copy the brushwork. The Japanese craftsmen were just so incredibly talented and had such control over their lines. I still marvel at how perfect the gold work is.

This first picture is of a water mark on an urishi lacquer table. The white blob is something I use to remove marks. Easy when you know how! There aren't any chemicals that can remove water marks from urushi, but there is a simple technique that does it. Well, I say simple, it's time consuming and takes a lot of patience, but as you can see from the second picture, it really works.