After seeing the beautiful gilding on the illuminated manuscripts at the Harry Ransom Center and having a chat with a local sign painter and gilder (Gary Martin - check out his website and you will realize that you see something of his every time you get in your car in this town!), I realized that I never did follow up much with the gilding I was playing with last year. I had just forgotten about it in the rush up to the holidays and then never really got back to it, but it is time I start playing again. Only way to get better is to ruin a few eggs, right?
This is one of my favorite designs because it combines random design elements with the geometric precision of traditional pysanky design elements. I started with a goose egg dyed with regular Ukrainian Gift Shop gold for the base color, then washed it back down to white, then went through red, turquoise, wisteria, light green, black and golden wheat (not necessarily in the order.)
After I melted the wax off, I picked out a few highlights with the gold leaf and then varnished. At this point, what works best for me is tiny dots. The details are so small that I can't quite get precise enough with the adhesive if I try to draw triangles or other more linear design elements. I need to look around and see what other tools and adhesives are available for gilding.
I hope you enjoy it!
Happy Friday!
