‘The Garden’ – Bill Burke
“For me it has always come down to the drawing – I’ve spent decades at it.” And true to his word, beneath every one of Bill’s exuberant paintings, is a carefully thought out, skilfully executed under-drawing. “It’s where I work things out – composition, lighting, perspective.”
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‘Out of Eden’ – Robert Pereira Hind
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Making mixed media artworks using gold leaf metal and 23.5 carat gold is a labour of love. I first discovered gold leaf when travelling through Laos and Tibet back in 1999. Whilst there I visited several Buddhist temples and saw statues covered entirely in tiny pieces of gold leaf, each piece being placed, ceremonially, by worshippers. They looked completely amazing! I bought some small pieces of gold leaf home, and occasionally chanced upon them as I searched through old pictures for artistic inspiration. The image of the golden Buddhas stayed with me, and slowly over the years an idea distilled, as I began experimenting with gold leaf as a background onto which I could montage my work.
I live in Edinburgh, and I have a long history of spending time out in the mountains and landscapes of Scotland where I love to walk and climb and cycle. I find inspiration for my artwork both in direct contact with nature and in galleries and museums, botanical gardens and woodlands. Referencing religious iconography, whether it be the gilded Buddhas of Tibet and Laos or Catholic icons of the Italian baroque, by placing my botanical photography and acrylic paint images against a gold leaf background I hope to remind viewers of the value, spiritual and otherwise, of Mother Nature. As well as religious iconography, I draw inspiration from the delicacy of botanical drawings and awe-inspiring European Romantic landscape paintings.
To make a gold leaf mixed media artwork takes about 3 weeks from start to finish, with roughly 10 layers of shellac and glaze varnishes to complete a finished piece.
I like the idea of an artwork charging and maturing quietly as it sits on a wall. The gold leaf in these artworks will, over many years, change gently in appearance as it slowly oxidises giving a unique look to each piece. I think it’s all too easy to stop noticing the work we surround ourselves with but if an artwork keeps changing slowly over time, I’d like to think that the viewer’s awareness and enjoyment of the work is prolonged.
Materials:
Gold Leaf Metal, Gold Size, Acrylic Paint, Photographic Ink Pigment, Shellac, Glazes, Wooden Board.
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