HERE'S MY STORY
I learned gilding on the dome of San Francisco’s City Hall, during its earthquake retrofit facelift in 1998. There were five of us, brushing on size, cramming on 24k gold squares in the wind, for 8 months. The meditation/monotony of that project begged the question: what else can I do with this? I found out that you can paint metal leaf with oil paint. Light reflecting from the metallic surface illuminates the paint from underneath, allowing for glowing, halo-like effects. An unpainted gilded background becomes an iconic shrine for the painted subject. |