The Gilding Arts

Newsletter ...an educational resource

for Gold Leaf Gilding

CHARLES DOUGLAS GILDING STUDIO

Seattle, WA

In This Issue

The Seattle Art Fair

Gilding Class Schedule

Letter from Gilder Charles Douglas

Goings on...in the Gilded Artworld

Newsletter Archive

Quick Links

Quick Links

Workshop Registration

Form (for mail-in

registration only)

A Gilder's Journal

(Blog)

Gilding Studio...on

Twitter

Frye Art Museum

Seattle Art Museum

Society of Gilders

August 9, 2015

The Seattle Art Fair arrives

at Century Link Field!

Lalla Essaydi, Harem Beauty, Jenkins Johnson, San Francisco

The long-anticipated Seattle Art Fair made its well-

received impact last week (July 30 - Aug. 2, 2015), the

first major international art fair for Seattle hosting 62

galleries including Seattle's Roq la Rue, New

York/Tokyo's Kaikai Kiki, Tokyo's Koki Arts, and New

York's David Zwirner, Gagosian, Pace, and Adelson

Galleries. Many thanks to Paul Allen and and his team

at Vulcan for the vision; plans are reportedly set for two

Metropolitan Museum

of Art

The Fricke Collection

Palace of Versailles

Museo Thyssen-

Bornemisza

Sepp Leaf Products

Join our list

more years with a thoughtful eye on the future.

Takashi Murakami, Yume Lion (The Dream Lion), 2009, Bronze

with platinum leaf on marble base. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery

Viewing Murakami's Dream Lion was a special treat

with its beautifully laid platinum leaf and subtle shifting

of tones. Its presence provided backdrop to a

conversation with Kaikai Kiki Gallery on gilding and

the art of Chiho Aoshima whose work can also be seen

at the Seattle Asian Art Museum through October 2nd.

Chiho Aoshima, (Reverse gilding and painting on acrylic), Kaikai

Kiki, Tokyo

Alyssa Monks, Grounded, 2014, Forum

Gallery, New York

And always good of course to find friends and

colleagues...

Roger Waterhouse, Artsite LTD

Denise Bisio, Artsite LTD (L)

& friend,

All in all, an exciting

(ad)venture and another

indication of Seattle's

determination to grow.

Although framing was sparse a few gilded pieces were

included throughout the fair, including the Andrew

Wyeth watercolor Seated by a Tree (1973) and the Jacob

Collins Candace, both from Adelson Galleries.

Richard Boerth (Atelier Richard

Boerth) Gilder, Framemaker,

Seattle Artist, Matt Jones

(Gasworks Gallery)

Seattle Artist, Jeff Mihalyo

Andrew Wyeth, Seated by a Tree (1973), Adelson

Galleries, New York

Jacob Collins, Candace, Adelson Galleries, New

York

Georg Baselitz, Oil on Canvas,

Gagosian Gallery, New York

Lalla Essaydi, Harem Beauty, Jenkins Johnson,

San Francisco

~

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2015 Fall Gilding Workshops Registration

New York City

Glass Gilding: for Mirror-Making

& Glass Art

(based on Verre Églomisé)

September 9, 2015

(Class Fee: $250)

~

Oil Gilding...and other Mordants

September 10, 2015

(Class Fee: $225)

~

New!

Gilding for Works of Art

on canvas, paper, and panels ...a Study for Fine Artists

September 11, 2015

(Class Fee: $275)

~

Traditional Gesso:

Preparing the Foundation for

Traditional Water Gilding (A One Day Intensive on Gesso)

September 14, 2015 (Class Fee: $225)

Seattle

New!

Gilding for Works of Art

on canvas, paper, and panels ...a Study for Fine Artists

September 19, 2015

December 12, 2015 (Class Fee: $275)

Sept. 19

Dec. 12

~

Introduction to

Traditional Water Gilding September 25, 26, 27, 2015

(Class Fee: $650)

~

Oil Gilding

...and other Mordants

October 24, 2015 (Class Fee: $225)

Artistic Passion in Progress! NY Water

Gilding Workshop, June, 2015

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Greetings from Charles Douglas Gilding Studio

Dear Friends,

Greetings and happy Summer! Before we know it it'll be September which will bring me back to new and old friends in New York to guide a growing number of students through four days of intensive gilding study! What stands out as a high point during this busy gilding year is the sponsorship of Sepp Leaf Products in New York who share my passion in enhancing the educational outreach in the art of gilding. Now with the added East Coast location through the gracious addition of Sepp Leaf's showroom studio in lower Manhattan, students have the additional opportunity to learn various gold leaf gilding methods and techniques. Between New York and Seattle I have had the pleasure to work with, get to know, and share ideas with artists and students who in their dedication, have traveled from such places as California, Utah, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Sweden, Ireland, and Canada. In a little more than a month we'll be studying

Photo by Renée Riccardo

glass gilding for mirror -making, oil gilding, gesso preparation for water gilding, as well as exploring an intriguing new workshop: Gilding for Fine Artists, designed for painters who wish to employ gold leaf directly to their works of art. (Spots are filling so if you're interested in joining us, now is a good time!) Meanwhile...thank you to those who continue to write with their thoughtful questions and to those who I continue to meet along the way...

Peace, Health, and Clarity

~ Charles

"Write two poems and call me in the morning. That's my prescription for you today, world, and for me.

~ Sandra Cisneros, American Poet and Author (1954- )

~

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Gold Leaf Gilding... A Conversation

Questions

Submitted

by our Members

from around the World.

Q. Hi Charles, I'm a

beginner in water gliding.

Recently I did a white

gold polish on a piece of

maple wood flat surface.

Traditional Gesso & Red Bole on

Canvas

I did 8 coats of Gesso, and 5 coats of bole. I let it dry

about 4 to 5 hrs and I began polishing. However, I

couldn't get to a good clean finish. Am I missing some steps? I gilded the surface twice with 13k white gold.

There is another question. Why do people tend to use

12k white gold or 22k gold instead of 13k white gold, or

24k gold? Is that the reason why I can't create a nice

clean finish? Please help.

~ Browning, NY

A. Hi Browning...Water gilding needs to be seen as a

system with all of the different parts working together to

achieve a particular result. The very first step which you

didn't mention is the application of a layer of a 10%

rabbit skin glue solution to seal the wood before

applying gesso.

When you say "polish" I assume you mean burnish, the

term for compressing the gold into the surface with a

burnisher, usually made of agate, making the gold shine.

The number of gesso coats you are applying should be

enough to give you a fairly decent, smooth burnish

although I generally use 14 coats of gesso along with 5

coats of bole. However, a good burnish depends in part

upon the recipes you are using for the gesso and bole

which include the strength of the glue and the ratio

between the amount of glue to whiting (calcium

carbonate) for the gesso and the ratio between the glue

and bole, the addition of water and the viscosity of the

clay itself. All of these factors, among a few others,

contribute to how the gilding will appear.

If you can provide me with further details on how you

approached your project and the gesso and bole recipes

you used we can take a further look into what's

happening.

As for why gilders tend to use 12k or 22k rather than

13k or 24k, good question! There are probably a lot of

different answers to this. My view is that 22k is still

high enough in gold content to appear as 'gold' without

shifting too far into a different tonal spectrum. Also, the

silver content makes 22k perhaps easier and quicker to

handle which may be important for companies geared

towards high productivity and is also less expensive

than 23k. I use 23k though over 22k because I find it is a

little more malleable and wraps around ornamentation a

littler more effectively.

12kt, being essentially 50/50 gold to silver, strikes a nice

balance between the malleability of gold without

overtaking the look of silver. 24kt, meanwhile, has a

beautiful, deep rich gold appearance although it is very

soft and may not be practical on a daily basis for an

industry such as picture framing if productivity is an

issue. It may, however, be the first choice for Sacred

Works due to 24kt's purity and therefore spiritual

symbolism. A high gold content leaf such as 23.75k is

desirable for exterior work as gold does not tarnish.

When gold leaf tarnishes it's the silver or copper content

within the lower kt leaf that is tarnishing, not the gold.

These different karat leafs, however, do get used and

offer an interesting array of color choices to compliment

works of art and may also be useful in color-matching in

restoration, conservation, reproductions, and replicas. I

don't think the karat leaf you have chosen though is

necessarily contributing to the difficulties you have had

in achieving a smooth, burnished appearance.

~ Back to Top

Goings on...in the Gilded Artworld

During the week of

June 22, 2015 Sepp

Leaf Products played

host to Seattle's

Charles Douglas

Gilding Studio for

their inaugural

gilding workshop

offering what was a

very lively three-day

intensive study in

Traditional Water Gilding. The brainchild of Peter Sepp,

Lauren Sepp, and gilder Charles Douglas, gold leaf

gilding workshops will be held at the Sepp Leaf

Downtown New York Showroom Studio at various

times throughout each year offering instruction in

techniques from traditional water gilding, oil gilding,

and glass gilding to restoration, gilding for Fine Artists,

and guided gilded art tours throughout New York City.

Stay tuned!

Popping by to say hello was the ever elegant Master

Gilder and Restorer Giovanni Bucchi, exchanging views

on life and gilding. Also here to discuss his new ventures

was Contemporary Artist, Frame Conservator, and Fine

Art Services Consultant R.Wayne Reynolds, the former

head of the gilding

department at Lowy's.

The Maine Monument at Central Park,

gilded bronze (Photo courtesy of Central

Park Conservancy)

Sepp Leaf's resident expert

Mark Randall !

Giovanni Bucchi

Deborah, keeping an eye on things

- and always with a smile!

Students at work!

Many thanks to Peter, Lauren, Mark and the rest of the

friendly staff at Sepp Leaf for helping to make these East

Coast gilding classes possible and for providing a

welcoming environment for the students!

Meanwhile, back in Seattle...a glass gilding project

currently underway at Charles Douglas Gilding Studio is

a set of custom Vanities brought in by New Dimensions

Frame and Mirror in Bellevue, WA, requiring 1,000

leaves of Manetti 6kt white gold leaf gilded onto 52

square feet of glass of various shapes and lengths. The

studio sample chosen for the project involves thorough

cleaning of the glass before speckling the back of the

glass with lampblack Japan. Gilding follows with a very

weak gelatin size, light distressing, and backed-up with

Laura, keeping everything moving

behind the scenes

Gilded Dome Replica in the

Sepp Leaf Showroom

flat black enamel.

The gilding is the same

method used in the elaborate

gilding, etching, and painting

of verre églomisé and the

same process Charles used in

his years

of gilding the logos of Saks

Fifth Avenue's logos on its

entranceway doors. Look for

final photographs in the Fall issue!

An intriguing aspect of the art of gilding is that it has a

presence and deep-rooted history in so many countries,

each displaying diverse techniques, from Tibet, China,

Thailand, Japan, Egypt, Indonesia, to France, Germany,

Italy, Spain, Russia and beyond; developed internally

and sometimes crossing borders, whether Italian gilders

brought to Spain for work or for the development of the

Peruvian Cuzco school of painters.

Photos here show the gilding at Harbin Bliss Temple in

Harbin, China during the sacred day of May 25, 2015

(Buddah's Birthday).

The possibilities of an

artistic and cultural

exchange around the art of

gilding is being explored

by Charles Douglas. Any

developments will be announced in The Gilding Arts

Newsletter.

On another note...Swedish gilder and restorer Malin

Isaksson has been asked to give a talk on gilding at the

Rotary Club conference at the Hotell Gyllene Uttern in

Granna, Sweden...And for those who have access to

Picture Framing Magazine, look for the current August,

2015 issue for a wonderful article by William Adair:

Sgraffito & Granito: Revitalizing an Ancient Technique.

These two surface treatments of Italian origin are two

among others where gesso is manipulated for

embellishment including punchwork where metal

punches are used to hammer designs directly onto gilded

gesso. Examples of this technique can often be seen on

antique Italian picture frames as well as early Icons

where halos and background punchwork is elaborate. As

always, Bill Adair does a wonderful job in taking us

along this age-old journey of gilding. ~

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Gilding in...

Florence, Italy

This October brings me to beautiful Florence to study

the Florentine method of Traditional Water Gilding with

gilder and restorer Roberto Passeri, author of many

publications on restoration of gilded objects and a

former member of the admissions review commission at

the Opificio delle Pietre Dure school.

This very special class will be held at Florenceart

Artisan Studio and School of Decorative Arts run by

artist and instructor Alison Wooley who has arranged

accommodations in the heart of Florence with a terrace

view of the city.

Time of course will be taken to view the museums of

Rome and Florence, to taste the wine of Tuscany, and

visit the villages of the Cinque Terra on the Italian

Riviera. And with special thanks to Peter Sepp at Sepp

Leaf Products, a visit will be made to the Gold Beating

Plant of Giusto Manetti Battiloro in Florence,

manufacturer of one of my personal favorite lines of

gold leaf due to its high quality, consistency, and range

of colors. (Look for an upcoming article on this visit to

Manetti!)

An exciting time lies ahead and I look forward to

sharing this new knowledge in Italian gilding with my

students in 2016!

~ Back to Top

Gold Leaf Gilding

Gilding: Using the Gilder's Pad

~ Charles Douglas Gilding Studio

Workshop Summaries

Oil Gilding...and other mordants A one day intensive in acquiring the skills to execute a

proper oil gilded surface. Explore the options for

preparing grounds and choosing among a variety of oil

sizes and other mordants for use on such surfaces as

wood, glass, metal, and stone.

Glass Gilding as used in Verre Églomisé A one day intensive as an introduction to the art of

glass gilding, the basis for verre églomisé. Learn to

apply genuine 12kt white gold, preparing glass for

gilding, making gelatin size, & creating special effects

including candle-smoked glass, abrading gold leaf, and

the combined use of water color additives.

Introduction to Traditional Water Gilding Traditional Water Gilding is an ancient craft that goes

back over 4,000 years ago to the early Egyptians. This

popular workshop is an intensive, hands-on class that

introduces the student to each step in the water gilding

method as used on furniture, picture frames, and

architectural detail. Learn to prepare gesso & clay bole

grounds & lay & burnish genuine 23kt gold leaf. A

field trip to the Frye Art Museum to view and study the

gilded frame collection is included.

Gilding for works of art on Canvas, Paper, and

Panels...a Study for Fine Artists (New!) Gold leaf has been used for centuries as both a

component and surface background for works of art.

From the earliest examples of iconography & 18th c

Peruvian painters to Gustav Klimt and the modern day

works of contemporary artists. This long-awaited one

day intensive introduces the student to the methods &

options available for the use of genuine gold leaf as a

component within works of art.

24kt Oil Gilded Altar for the Hari Krishna Temple,

Sammamish, WA

~

Class Size limited to 8 Students

For more information visit www.gildingstudio.com

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