"Annunciazione" by Lorenzo Monaco, circa 1418 (this photograph doesn't remotely do it justice)
Two years ago my husband and I went to
Italy for our honeymoon and, while strolling through the Uffizi in Florence, I
fell in love with the gold-leaf paintings there. I’ve always been a fan of
Italian Renaissance paintings but something about being in that romantic city,
in that wonderful Gallery, just did something to me. I decided when I got home
I would try my hand at incorporating gold leaf into some of my paintings. I
have always wanted to paint a triptych as well but the prospect of building one
seemed daunting for someone who is pretty woodworking challenged. I told myself
I would learn how to do both one day.
Fortunately, a few Christmases ago, my
husband surprised me with a triptych he had made and carved himself. To this
day, it’s one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever received. I spent a lot of
time thinking about what I would do with such a beautiful canvas and finally
decided to make it a kind of memory of our wedding day.
I was full of enthusiasm when I started. I did the drawing
for the front doors of the triptych first, figuring ideas for the inside would
come to me later. Our wedding was outdoors at an arboretum so I knew I wanted
to incorporate Magnolia trees and birds to represent the wildlife there. I
started to paint it and that’s when I had a thought about the banner the birds
are carrying - gold leaf! So, I set out to attempt it on the edges of the
banner.
Clearly, I had no idea what I was getting
myself into. I applied the glue, let it dry as directed and then laid a sheet
of leaf over top. My idea was that it would adhere to the glue, but not to the
surrounding areas leaving a nice, crisp line between.
Yeah. Right.
I pulled off the leaf and discovered a
sad, jagged edge. Here’s where I realized that I would now have to cut
teeny-tiny individual pieces of the gold leaf and adhere them one at a time,
which is not at all easy since gold leaf is quite possibly the thinnest, most
delicate material on the planet. The slightest current of air sends it flying,
it sticks to your fingers and you basically have one shot at getting it in the
right spot. It requires so much patience it’s hilarious.
So, it seems that I have a lot of work
ahead of me and, to be honest, I’ve kind of been avoiding it. Every now and
then I’ll add a small piece. As you can see, I haven’t gotten very far. I
figure I might be done by my fourth anniversary… if I’m lucky. I have a feeling,
though, that when all is said and done and the piece is finished it will be
really special. All of the hard work will make this piece mean even more.
I think you have to be willing to try new things
in your work and to be okay with it if you don’t really know what you’re doing
or you aren’t doing it well. You just have to keep plugging away at it. It’s so
easy to see your self as one kind of artist or to get bogged down in one
medium. The only way you’ll ever grow and the only way you’ll get better is to
step out of your comfort zone again and again and again. I hope I can continue
to push myself that way.
-Ereisa
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