Hello,

At the end of January, I was invited to lead an art demo at Burnaby Artists Guild, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts  (SCA).
(The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts is an award-winning, multi-purpose community facility with arts classes, theatre performances & festivals).

There were around 30 members, most of its members are artists who use watercolor, acrylic and oil as a medium. My demonstration was a combination of lecture, presentation of materials and the products that I use, and a brief demonstration of the gilding process.
The Guild regularly invites an artist to perform demonstrations, painting workshops with watercolors / acrylics / collage, etc.

I was the first gilder artist that the Guild has invited to give a gilding demonstration here to edit.
It was a very interesting evening to make known and share the technique of gilding with this magnificent gathering of artists.

And from here I would like to thank SCA for inviting me and especially Roxsane Tiernan for introducing me to the Guild.

Hello everyone:
As  promised in my precious blogs, I will be having a three-day intensive water gilding workshop, with ten students maximum.

The workshops are designed to teach the basics of water gilding  with 22 karat gold leaf on wooden board,  prepared with gesso and bole and using the ancient techniques as employed since the Middle Ages in Europe.

FOLLOWING ARE THE DETAILS OF THE WORKSHOP:

WORKSHOP FEE:
$480.00 for new students and $360.00 for previous students (25% off). 
Paid prior to starting.

LOCATION:
7151 Golden Street
Burnaby   V5A 1N3   B.C.

WORKSHOP DATES TIMES:
10th - 17th - 24th of May, 2014

From 10:00 am to 4:00 am with a break for lunch and periodic coffee , tea and cookie breaks throughout the day. (Please bring your own lunch)

WHAT THE WORKSHOP COVERS:
- the making and application of gesso.
- the making and application of bole.
- the application of the gold leaf.
- the burnishing of the gold leaf.
- polichroming, embossing, and embroidering.
- tooling and other decoratives methods.

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE COST OF THE WORKSHOP:
- course notes with recipes and tips
- gesso
- bole
- rabbit skin glue
- a piece of wood
- a board prepared with gesso.
- a book of 22 Kt. gold leaf.
- others various minor materials such as sandpaper, brushes, shellac, etc. 
- a comprehensive DVD of the entire workshop showing all the steps and techniques.

WHAT SUPPLIES AND TOOLS  ARE  SUPPPLIED BUT NOT INCLUDED:
These following materials and tools are also needed for the course and if the student does not currently have them, they will be supplied during the course for the students use, and the student may purchase them to keep for future use at an additional cost of $185.00

- materials to make a gilder's pad.
- a gilder's knife.
- an agate stone burnisher.
- a gilder's tip.
- 2 feather brushers
- a large pure bristle stencil brush


The student, when finished, will have a thorough beginners understanding of water gilding, and will leave with a finished piece, that they have water gilded and burnished with  a design that incorporates many design techniques such as embroidering, embossing, relief work, and painting overlay.

Please confirm your attendance by email  ana@goldgilding.com as soon as possible to guarantee a place, as the workshop is limited to 10 students only.



Hello,

After many requests, I will be holding an intensive three days course of WATER GILDING for beginners.

The courses will be held on 3 consecutive Saturdays in May. May 10th, 17th, and 24th. The time will be from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and the location will be in North Burnaby.

More information and details will follow in a few days.

If you are interested please watch my blog or fill out the from and I will notify you.

Thank you for reading.

Hello,

After a sabbatical year, I have started this 2014 very strong, full of  new projects and some commissions.

Today I started working on these figures of alabaster powder belonging to two different Nativities.

I'm going to paint with oil paint and decorate with 22 karat gold leaf.  I'm considering what areas to gild and what coulors and patterns I will apply on the clothes.

The first Nativity  is made up of 8 figures and an architectural scene.

The second Nativity is made up of 5 larger figures.

On my website, "Gilding" you can see some already finished Nativities.

Thank you for reading.

It was a simple job.

My husband  Derek took his mother Mary earlier this year, to the little town of Davidson, in the province of Saskatchewan, in Canada, where she had been born. She  grew upon a farm, just outside of this little town. 

His mother had not been back to Davidson for about 60 years. When they visited the old farm, the family who live there now gave him some old floor boards from her old house that had been torn down a year ago, and they had a picture of the old farm house.

Derek wanted to frame the old photograph of the farm house. What better frame than from the floor of that old house.

He took these pieces of fir flooring to a frame shop thinking it would be simple, but the owner said it would be difficulties ..... that's when I told him.... This is very special and that I would do it without problems and make sure it looked as special as what it represented.

You can see the process in these images:

Once the frame was made, I used sandpaper of various thicknesses to remove old layers of paint and smooth the rough surface.

How a final finish I used a beeswax polish.

The picture and the frame were given to Derek' mother, for her birthday from both of us.

Thank you for reading.

Hello,
This year 2013 is being for me a sabbatical year in terms of work. I've only taken commissions from my family.

I have spent more than half the year in Spain,  traveling .... south of Spain, Seville and Cordoba. Then went to Milan and Cuba.
I already wrote about my trips to Seville. I went with my husband Derek, who is Canadian. On each trip to Spain we will visit different cities, towns, landscapes...


To the Italian city of Milan I went in April with my sister María. 
Maria had to go to Milan to attend the "Salone Internazionale del Mobile" (Milan Furniture Fair). She is an accomplish Interior Designer.
(You can take a look at her website http://www.decovogue.com )
I accompanied her and we both took the opportunity of touring the city of Milan.
At  the furniture Fair,  while my sister was talking to the different designers, brand representatives, distributors, etc.... I was acting as her photographer and taking  pictures of everything that my sister was pointing to. All the furniture and designs were amazing, but my eye was always more focused on things gilded and everything antique.

Thanks for reading.

Hello,
last week I went to the Prado Museum. There is always something new to see.
On this occasion there was an exhibition about two Japanese screens.
It was a wonderful surprise because  three things that I like a lot, came together, gold leaf, Japanese Art and screens.
Two Japanese screens painted on paper were display in the Central Gallery of the Prado Museum.
This was the first time that works of this type have been displayed at the  Museum.
The Japanese screens belong to the Rimpa School, which extends for almost the entire Edo period (1603-1868), a time that coincides with the complete isolation of Japan regarding external influences.

If you're interested in knowing something more about the exhibition you can view the next video made in the Prado Museum commented by Mr. Hiroyoshi Tazawa (Tokyo National Museum) and Mrs. Miori Ohashi (Seikado Bunko Art Museum of Tokio).
(The video has subtitles in Spanish and English, you can activate in the menu on the right top of the page).


http://www.museodelprado.es/en/pradomedia/multimedia/invited-work-two-japanese-screens-from-the-rimpa-school/.

Thank you for reading.

Hello,

"Stendhal's syndrome" or Florence syndrome is a psychosomatic  disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place.
The illness is named after the famous 19th-century French author Stendhal, who described his experience with the phenomenon during his 1817 visit to Florence  in his book: Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio. ( from Wikipedia)

The past January my husband Derek and I visited several places in Spain.
We both like to travel, art, discover special places and taste the typical dishes.
We went to some wonderful exhibitions in Madrid:
"Gauguin and the trip to the exotic", also  we saw another exhibit about Cartier at the same museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum .
We visited "The Legacy of Alba",  the "Neapolitan Nativity of 18th- century" and "The Monastery of Las Descalzas Reales" ( the Monastery of Barefoot Royals). 

We also went to two cities of Andalusia, Seville and Córdoba. There were times when, in some moments, I felt like Stendhal, amazed by both art together.
We were both impressed by the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba but our favorite city was Seville.
I as a master gilder I spent a day imersed in the art of  gold leaf.
I will show you some peculiar pictures from my point of view of a master gilder.
Thank you for reading.

Hello,

I have just finished The Chinese Phoenix, which is called "Feng Huang" in China. It is a mythological bird of East Asia that reigned over all other birds and existed only in legends.
"Fenghuang" is the compound word that  referres to two birds: the male bird called Feng and Huang the female.

Chinese Phoenix Painting is an unearthly bird objectifying the five virtues of mercy, justice, wisdom, integrity and propriety.

I painted it on a round board using traditional gesso and bole, with oil paint and 22 karat gold leaf. I made it according to the Old traditional techniques used in Europe.
Thank you for reading.