We met this february at Liz Nilsson's Textile printing course [ i've blogged about here .]
Laura came to visit me in my studio one day last May ,
I had just bought these antique bed ends at the auctions
in Buckleys of Sandycove
I wasn't quite sure what plan I had to restore them , but when Laura told me she had worked as a gilder for Lecornicidiluna in Milan , and then offered to show me how to gild and to help me with the project,
( we're going to do a skills swop) , Well, it was confirmed to me there and then, It has been written in the stars......
.......I am to sleep in a golden bed!
before detail.....
Laura organised all the ordering of the materials from Italy
and left me detailed instructions for preparing the surface for gilding
We started the project last weekend.
The first step was cleaning and sanding
Then it was coated in acrylic paint,
The entire surface is coated in this specialist gilding glue
and left to dry
Initial application of gold-leaf
after smoothing and brushing
One leg done
gold leaf application
Making the shellac, using an ancient secret recipe
The final smoothing of the gold leaf is best done with a nylon stocking
First coat of shellac is applied
I am really delighted with the finished piece, it looks amazingly rich ,sumptuous and decadent. Unfortunately , we have only finished one bed end ,the other end is twice that size plus there's the side pieces ....
so all will be revealed as we proceed.
Stay tuned for part 2.....
I had just bought these antique bed ends at the auctions
in Buckleys of Sandycove
I wasn't quite sure what plan I had to restore them , but when Laura told me she had worked as a gilder for Lecornicidiluna in Milan , and then offered to show me how to gild and to help me with the project,
( we're going to do a skills swop) , Well, it was confirmed to me there and then, It has been written in the stars......
.......I am to sleep in a golden bed!
before detail.....
Laura organised all the ordering of the materials from Italy
and left me detailed instructions for preparing the surface for gilding
We started the project last weekend.
The first step was cleaning and sanding
Then it was coated in acrylic paint,
The entire surface is coated in this specialist gilding glue
and left to dry
Initial application of gold-leaf
after smoothing and brushing
One leg done
gold leaf application
Making the shellac, using an ancient secret recipe
The final smoothing of the gold leaf is best done with a nylon stocking
First coat of shellac is applied
I am really delighted with the finished piece, it looks amazingly rich ,sumptuous and decadent. Unfortunately , we have only finished one bed end ,the other end is twice that size plus there's the side pieces ....
so all will be revealed as we proceed.
Stay tuned for part 2.....
