Monday 4 July 2011

Preparing for the gold...

The unspeakable and prodigious fire hidden in the essence of things, as in the bush, is the fire  of divine love and the dazzling brilliance of God’s beauty inside everything.  St Maximus the Confessor
I just read the above quotation, and thought it aptly captures the essence of the Sacred Heart as ICON, so thought it best to post it here before I forget!

Today saw the board being prepared for the gold leaf: final tweaks to the design, final sanding of the board, and the transfer of the outline of the image where it touches the gold to the board.


Then, to the areas to be gilded, several layers of bole have been applied. This is a fine red clay, mixed with gelatine, which acts as a 'cushion' to which the wafer thin layers of gold will be applied, and then burnished.

1 comment:

  1. The quote at the top of the post is very close to what Teilhard said:

    'Let us go on closer and closer together in a better discovery of the light and the hearth of God, at the deep centre of everything is beauty and truth'.

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