Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope is currently being exhibited at M1 Fine Art Gallery in London.

Unframed Measurements: 100 x 100 cm / 40 x 40 inches
Framed Measurements: 105 x 105 cm / 42 x 42 inches

As a colour, gold is a bully. For a painter there is probably no stronger colour; it drowns out all other colours and subtlety around it becomes lost. For this reason, it is generally used in blocks, much as an accent wall is in a room. In the paintings of Gustav Klimt or early icons, a sea of gold is used as contrast to the painted areas. Where gold is used to pick out single details, they are as difficult to ignore as car headlights on a dark night. This is why so few artists use gold in paintings but then I’ve always liked a challenge.
What I wanted to do was paint with gold so that it is incorporated with the other colours; either by quietening the gold or enlivening the other colours. The gilding itself was not a challenge as I had formerly worked as a restorer but the particular problem of applying the gilding to a highly sculpted surface and preparing this to receive paint was outside of my experience. I spent a while consulting my former colleagues, paint manufacturers and conservators and the result was as follows:
First the canvas is protected around the sides. A 3D surface is then created using gesso and this is then heated for several days until thoroughly dry. I paint a picture on this surface and, while it will lack the fine detail, it will be a broad-brush version of the final image. When satisfied with this, the painting is sized and gilded. As the gilding is opaque none of the colour below will show through. For this reason, I am sparing with the gilding; not covering the whole image. I then take the canvas to my framer, Ian, who varnishes it with an archival MSA varnish. This stops the gilding from discolouring and prepares it for the final stages of painting. Once back in the studio, I lay washes over the gilding; sometimes returning it to the colour below, sometimes allowing it to shine through.