Recent Discoveries

Recent Discoveries

Winter 2018:

 

Working by hand on limited edition illuminations sometimes results in the occasional mistake - gold adheres to the wrong area, a the soft core of a colored pencil breaks when trimming the gold and the tip of the pencil makes an unwanted mark, my signature is crooked or the bright inks that vividly sit on the surface of a limited edition illumination gets scratched with the edge of a trimming tool. These are beautiful but will not not become one of the numbered limited edition illuminations. I was saving them for a while, not able to part with them but not knowing how to give them a new life. Then I remembered making glass blobs with some left over programs that I'd done the graphic design for which turned out to be lovely gifts when visiting friends. Thus was born these little gilded glass magnets. I hope you think they are as gleaming and adorable as I do. In time, they may end up on the site for sale so you can have magnets to match your illuminations!

Fall 2017:

This is proof that web advertising works because that is how I found Sticker Mule. It was perfect timing too because I wanted an elegant way to convey handling instructions for illuminations that I could place on packaging. Their button options are just adorable so I also had some made with designs from my Illuminated Inspiration artwork to give friends and a few with the Color & Gold logo. I'll likely order more from them as the occasion arrises because they were incredibly efficient and getting back to me with design proofs until I was totally happy with each one. 

 

Summer 2017:

After many years, my dream of getting to take a miniature painting illumination class with Jed Gibbons was realized! Jed lives in Chicago but mostly teaches at art centers on the east coast but this class was the opening of the newly formed Catholic Art Guild in Chicago and I was honored that he reached out to me so I could take the class. I really admire his style and the passion he puts into the symbolism of work. Because most of my illuminations are done with colored pencil, it was a real treat to use ground pigments for the first time. Very thin washes of paint are layered over and over to build up the glowing color. We also used shell/powdered gold which was a delightful gilding medium. It has its own virtues of luminosity that are different from leaf and although it is doubtful I'll use shell gold in my colored pencil illuminations, I'll be looking for new opportunities to incorporate it into my art. 

Spring 2017:

Leaf gilding by nature necessitates that there be some leaf that does not get used. Both for the value and out of respect for the earth's resources, I don't wish to waste what can be saved. This little Black and Decker cordless vacuum has turned out just great for the job of collecting and cleaning loose leaf during the gilding process.