Calligraphy on gilded paper with mixed media, stretched on a timber frame. Private collection, Belfast. 123cm x 283cm, 4' x 9'3"

 

Media

Brass leaf, Copper leaf, Gold leaf, bronze powders, PVA, sumi ink, gouache, acrylic, alkyd and various other paints, bare copper wire, enameled copper wire, epoxy resin, artists oil varnish.

 

Techniques

Calligraphy with a Gothic/Fraktur flavor was written with 5mm Brause nib, (verse at left), Automatic pens, and 8" wide nib made from hardboard covered with fabric, (two huge characters in the background); onto a painted and gilded Canson paper. The gilding technique is Brass & Copper leaf laid over a color wash- as taught in a workshop I offer. Layers of copper wire, paint splashes and gold leaf were built up towards the right hand side. Small squares of gilt paper bearing many repetitions of the characters 'A' (Alpha), 'Ω', (Omega), '1' and '0' were collaged to the surface.This gilded sheet is stretched over a support made from a timber frame construction, faced with hardboard, sealed with PVA, and lined with conservation board. A second sheet of Canson paper, (the red part of the image), emerges from under the torn and scorched edge of the gilt sheet. It was stretched over the support first, and features layered writings and glazes of alkyd paint. This sheet has been varnished with gloss oil varnish, and very fine copper wires are attached between the lines of writing.

 

Texts

Extracts from 'The Second Coming' by William Butler Yeats, 1919; are mixed with phrases from the opening of the Gospel of St John, 1, 1-5