Collecting Gold

The use of gold leaf in my work started off really small and slowing took over my life and studio practice as I fell more and more in love. Its an expensive, precious material so when it first comes up in the work, I very carefully was adorning only small portions of the paintings. Gilding halos, little golden drips, illuminations from chandelier and other small accents. I immediately loved working with this unique element. Its purity, its precious delicate quality, the tedious , methodical nature of the process gave me a breathing point within my painting process.

Gold is ductile, soft and malleable but must be mixed Gold has held its value for thousands of years, it does not corrode, so in Ancient times and today this is an ideal material to represent immortality. For me this immortal quality simplifies down to being able to leave something that lasts longer than your life. If you’ve ever seen aged antique screens, I like to imagine what this work might be like 500 years from now, all aged and precious. It’s been used for ever to decorate, create Jewlary, act as a currency and today still is one of the most stable assets. There is a finite supply of gold, and ultimently the value behind this material is a social construct…we simply all agreed, long ago that gold is valuable.

The Atoms in gold are actually heavier than in silver and other metals, this attribute makes electrons move faster which in turn allows for some of the light to be absorbed into the gold - a process that Einsteins theory of relativity helped to dicern. This equation also leads to one of the most devastating weapons in human history, the atomic bomb… so like most things in our world the duality is ever presence.

Gold is both abundant and finite, just like us. In working and living with this material I have discovered a love for light in a new way. The artwork shifts throughout the day, it reflects, shines, moves and illuminates. Working with gold and having this material present in my life has been a beautiful piece of my studio practice. I like to wear the cotton gloves and delicately place everything, to be surrounded by flakes of gold floating around me as I’m burnishing the material into the wood panels or canvas surface. Its elegant beauty continues to inspire me, to hold my gaze and illuminate my life. It has been the perfect marriage to my oil painting and I look forward to continuing to use it to shine light in a world dark.