Consoles at Olympia

My consoles (hah I say "my" I WISH they were mine) were exhibited at the Winter Olympia and looked absolutely beautiful. Butchoff's stand looked so elegant. I always find that pieces look good in the studio, but look magnificent when dressed. The marble tops are particularly fine.

Silver Leaf Guitar

Another strange gilding job. I love this look though. The client wanted the silver leaf untreated which means it will very gently tarnish over time, and he wanted it rough around the edges (probably difficult to see from this picture) but it looks "bashed about and beautiful" as he requested.

A Tiny Little Mirror

Here's a very small mirror I restored recently.... The pictures show one of the newly carved areas first in gesso and then with fresh gold toned to match the original.

Giltwood Consoles

Am currently restoring two beautiful 19th century consoles. The gilding is in superb condition as it was protected by a coat of shellac. Unfortunately, the shellac had discoloured and the gold looked very dull, but I've cleaned the shellac off and underneath the water gilding is gorgeous. There is lots of damage; missing gesso and chips to the carving. It's important to restore the gold to match the original colour. Gold doesn't tarnish, but it can change colour over time with handling and dust. It's very difficult to antique gold so this is taking me ages. But. Will be worth it when it's finished.

Gold for Parties

This is a "gilded dress" I made for a party. Body gilding really looks incredible. There are so many ways to use gold and on skin it shimmers and glows like perfectly fitting delicate armour. It's fun to use gold for parties; on food, in drinks, on bodies, flowers. I'll be gilding lilies tomorrow for a client's party, 24carat gold and silver. I'll take some pictures as am sure it will be amazing.

Gilding Lilies

I've had an enquiry about gilding flowers thanks to the publicity about gilding chocolate. Here's a pic of a beautiful lily I gilded. It's expensive and highly decadent, but then isn't that the point? There are all sorts of incredible things that can be done with gold.

Gilding the Most Expensive Chocolate Bar in the World

Here I am with the World's Most Expensive Chocolate Bar. Only it's not really. I gilded two of them, one to put in the wrapper and one just for photographs. I'm sure the one I'm holding has now been munched! I also took pictures of me eating the gold to prove it was edible, but doubt anyone would be interested in those pics :-) See my new Blog http://www.gildingwispagold.blogspot.com/ for more info on Wispa Gold.