Gilding Courses 4th and 18th June, at Hackney Pirates

Published on 13.05.2016 by Charlotte

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Introductory courses to oil and water gilding with master gilder Marisa Delpoio, including traditional oil based and water based techniques. Marisa has a history of a range of art education, but finally trained as a gilder, and has lectured at Lambeth College and the British Museum. Whilst lecturing at Lambeth College Marisa also wrote the City & Guilds Lacquering course, and we are delighted to have her lead these workshops.

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Module 1 – Saturday 4th June AM, £80 Preparation of Surfaces for Oil Gilding and Water Gilding This course aims to teach the preparation of surfaces prior to gilding, using rabbit skin glue, gesso and clay bole. Students will also learn a variety of traditional and contemporary methods for sealing and polishing. The knowledge of the layering process of surface preparation can be used when making assessments for the purpose of restoration. All materials will be supplied and available to purchase. All materials will be supplied. Starts 11:00am. Duration approx 2.5 hours. image 3  Module 2 –Saturday 4th June, PM £80 Oil Gilding- Leaf For those who have attended the Preparation of Surfaces course, this session will teach students how to gild using gold leaf, with both oil based and acrylic size. It will also cover leaf transfer for the purpose of decoration, blended gilding and patination. All materials will be supplied and available to purchase. *Students must have attended Module 1* in the AM All materials will be supplied. Starts 2.30pm. Duration approx 3 hours.

Module 4 –Saturday 18th June, £80

Water Gilding and Verre Eglomise

This course will cover all aspects of water gilding from learning about size, applying gold leaf to water gilding for frescoes. Students will also learn additive and subtractive techniques for gilding with gold leaf on glass. All materials will be supplied and available to purchase.
Verre églomisé, from the French term meaning gilded glass, is a decorative technique in which the back side of glass is gilded with gold or metal leaf.
 
In one of a number of related processes, the metal is fixed using a gelatin adhesive, which results in a mirror-like, reflective finish in which designs are then engraved. The metal leaf may be applied using oil-based adhesives (goldsize varnish) to achieve a matte finish. The gilding may also be combined with reverse painting on glass. It is to be distinguished from "sandwiched" gold glass where gold leaf is glued to a piece of glass, and often then scraped off to form a design, and a further layer of hot glass is then applied on top and fused to seal the gold inside.
 
The technique dates back to the pre-Roman eras, but its name is derived from 18th-century French decorator and art-dealer Jean-Baptiste Glomy (1711–1786), who is responsible for its revival.
 
One of the key historical periods of the art was in Italy during the 13th to 16th centuries. Small panels of glass with designs formed by engraved gilding were applied to reliquaries and portable altars. The method used is described by Cennino Cennini.
 
It has also been used throughout Europe since the 15th century, appearing in paintings, furniture, drinking glasses and similar vessels and jewelry. It is also often seen in the form of decorative panels of mirrors, clock faces, and in more recent history, as window signs and advertising mirrors.
 
Practitioners include Jonas Zeuner and Hans Jakob Sprungli (1559–1637).
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All materials will be supplied. Starts 11:00am. Duration approx 4 hours.

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Gilding is the art of applying thin layers of gold leaf to a surface for decorative purposes, so the finished product looks as if it is made from gold. Almost any surface can be prepared for gilding, from wood and metal to food. The leaves are offered in different forms depending on the surface to be covered and the effect desired. The gold leaf itself comes in two forms, loose and transfer. It is made by beating gold into ribbons which are 0.1 millionths of an inch (four or five millionths of an inch thick), then cutting into squares which are 85mm x 85mm. These leaves are then laid between sheets of paper which are bound together to form a “book”. Each book of our gold leaf contains 25 leaves. In order to make transfer gold leaf the leaves are pressed onto paper for easier handling and application, ideal for flat surfaces and signwriting. For more intricate flat decoration, we can press the transfer to a higher weight on request to ensure less wastage - if you would like this service please let us know by leaving a comment at the end of your order. For the process of water gilding, a surface is prepared using gesso (a mixture of whiting and glue) to prevent porosity. After the gesso has been applied and is dry, it is re-wet using a mixture of water and rabbit skin glue and the leaves of gold are applied. Items gilded in this method can be highly burnished using an agate burnisher. Oil gilding has traditionally been achieved using a gold size which is a linseed oil based adhesive similar to a varnish. When the size has reached a suitable level of tackiness the leaf is applied and this is usually performed with the transfer leaf described above. The gold sizes are available with different drying speeds to that the reach the suitable tackiness at different times, after either 1-2 hours, 3 hours, 12 hours or 24 hours. In recent years water based sizes have been introduced which are easier to work with than the oil sizes but these should not be confused with the water gilding technique described above. Gold leaf is available in pure 24 carat form but is also mixed with a wide range of alloys such as silver, palladium or copper to give slightly different hues to the gold. Any leaf of 22 carat or higher is for all practical purposes inert and will not tarnish but leaves with a lower gold content should be protected from oxidisation with a lacquer or varnish. Silver leaf, copper leaf and the imitation gold and silver leaf also needs to be protected with a lacquer. View our gilding products online → Get Tickets →

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