Automatic painting

Gilding and Patinating

I've been working on gilding with silver leaf and patinating with liver of sulfer (sulfurated potash). The colour of the glaze under the leaf as well as the duration of the 'soak' has a noticeable effect on the look of the gilding .

The first piece was underglazed with Indian red gouache and fumed for an hour.

Sycamore hollow form 8" x 5"
Silver leaf, ebony, and faux bone

Top view

The platter was under glazed with gold enamel then gilded with copper and silver on top. Again it was fumed for an hour.

Sycamore platter 14" x 2 1/2"
Silver on top of copper leaf, textured band with gilding cream

Top view

The urn was under glazed with red and blue acrylic and fumed for about 45 minutes. A leaf pattern was textured around the top with a pyro tool.

Beech urn 12" x 5"
zebrano and ebony cap

Earring (Saturn) box and more

An earring box for Ali. Putting together a piece from multiple parts is time consuming but it's an enjoyable challenge to try and get the proportions right. The cherry was from a log in the woods behind our house which had been felled a number of years ago and there was only a little of solid timber to get out of it. Thanks to Gary Wall for his gift of some ebony blanks.

The second and third pieces each have a band of antiqued foil which is a new technique I'm working on.

The last two pieces have rims painted with iridescent paints.

Earring box in cherry and ebony
3 1/2" x 9"

Cherry bowl 7" x 4"

Sycamore platter 10" x 2"

Beech bowl 8" x 3"

Sycamore platter 15" x 2"

Silver leaf and more

My second attempt at patinizing silver leaf was successful. After applying the leaf I laid crumpled tissue paper in the bowl and sprayed the paper with a solution of 1 part liver of sulphur concentrate to 70 parts espresso coffee at 120 degrees F. I placed a plate on top to stop evaporation and left it for 45 minutes before rinsing it with warm water from a spray bottle to stop the colouring. (I think my first effort last summer failed because I used a different manufacturers silver leaf which was probably imitation).

Looking forward to using the effect on hollow forms and platters.

The next two pieces I used my £2.50 'airbrush' for decoration and finally a salad bowl in sycamore.

Bowl in sycamore 8" x 4 1/2"
acrylic paint, silver leaf, varnish

Platter in sycamore 15" x 2"
acrylic paint, shellac, and wax

Bowl in apple 6" x 4"
acrylic paint and varnish

Salad bowl in sycamore 15" x 4"
walnut oil

Pewter and laburnum

All the pewter at my home is now in danger of meeting the melting pot. At about £35 per kilo I'll probably wait until boot sales start up this spring to replenish supplies. (Anyone have any lying around that is of no use?)

I found it handy to prepare the pewter elements in advance to fitting on the green timber. The ring on the end grain bowl was fit with a tongue and groove joint and epoxy. The foot ring inserts are a handy way to decorate and clean up the foot.

Bowls are finished with oil and wax.

Laburnum and pewter end grain bowl
5 1/2" x 4 1/2"

Laburnum cross grain bowl
8 1/2 " x 3 1/2"

Foot ring and insert detail

Wikipedia entry on laburnum

All parts of the plant are poisonous, and can be lethal if consumed in excess. Symptoms of laburnum poisoning may include intense sleepiness, vomiting, convulsive movements, coma, slight frothing at the mouth and unequally dilated pupils. In some cases, diarrhea is very severe, and at times the convulsions are markedlytetanic. The main toxin in the plant is cytisine, a nicotinic receptor agonist. It is used as a food plant by the larvaeof some Lepidoptera species, including the buff-tip.

More fun with colour

The first bowl in cherry has the exterior finished with Plastikote two-part crackle, Jo Sonja gold iridescent acrylic, and Wood Doc 20. I thinned the gold paint hoping to apply it with an atomiser tube but couldn't blow hard enough to raise the paint. Ha, stuck a dusting needle from the compressor into the blow pipe, turned it up to 80 psi and out came the paint! The softer wood within each growth ring took more paint and added a pleasant grain effect.

The next two bowls are coloured with the Sonja iridescent paints applied by sponge.

The final piece is a small cross grain elm platter with the rim decorated with the Plastikote crackle. (I'm getting better results with the crackle on face grain.)

Cherry end-grain bowl 7" x 5"

Sycamore bowl 7" x 3 1/2"

Sycamore bowl 8" x 5"

Elm platter 7" diameter

Exploring Colour and Texture

I've been cutting a lot of open bowls lately just to have some pieces to play with. Each additional material or technique seems to add exponential possibilities. I'm definitely straying from the adage that less is more.

The first two bowls have Jo Sonja iridescent acrylic applied over a darker undercoat. I've brushed the thinned acrylic at slow and high revs and finished with a few coats of lacquer. It will take a lot of play and experimenting to find a technique that is really pleasing.

The third bowl is cross grain sycamore bowl died with spirit stain and  textured with a Crown tool with a gold gilding cream rub and finished with Chestnut wax.

I think that the direction I'm taking is a result of near constant woodturning for a few years. What matters to me is to stay excited.

End grain cherry
6" x 3"

Cross grain sycamore
8" x 3"

Cross grain sycamore
10 1/2" x 3 1/2"

Toni's sugar pot
Laburnum and holly lid