Gilded Advent Calendar (SLYT playlist)

December 1, 2023 11:45 AM

Ruth Tappin is a gilder and antiques restorer in Britain. The creation of these 24 tree ornaments serves as a sampler of gilding techniques, further explored in a large and varied collection of longer project videos covering object repair, surface preparation and gilding. Great effort is put into communicating a sense of material properties.
posted by brachiopod (8 comments total)

This is wonderful and beautiful and amazing. I look forward to learning about the different techniques and stuff. I've done a tiny amount of gilding in my life, and it's both terrifying and thrilling to work with gold like that.

Thanks so much for posting! I look forward to having one of these to watch each day for the next while, like a true advent calendar.
posted by hippybear at 11:55 AM on December 1, 2023

Oh dear oh dear oh dear, what a lovely rabbit hole/advent hole to tumble into!
I've been somewhat obsessed lately with gilded/mixed media art work so this fits right in.
Thanks for posting!
posted by winesong at 2:47 PM on December 1, 2023

Thanks for sharing this! It's my first exposure to gilding techniques, and I think these short advent calendar style videos are the perfect intro for me.
posted by blueskies at 3:15 PM on December 1, 2023

So, wow, I really loved the first day's video. Such a rustic yet delightful finished tree when completed. That thick metal leaf is a lot easier to work with than the really thin stuff that will melt into your skin.
posted by hippybear at 3:54 PM on December 1, 2023

OK, I literally spent my whole day today gilding a wall in an apartment for a job I’m doing. I only watched the second video and she makes cutting leaf look so easy and it is absolutely not an easy thing to do. Imagine cutting single ply toilet paper that costs around $4 a sheet with a dull knife without tearing it and then magically not breathing on it, or near it. Or even thinking about breathing at all because it might fly away or fold over into a wrinkled mass that you can almost, but not quite, untangle.
posted by Conrad-Casserole at 7:07 PM on December 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

I’m really enjoying the way these project combine grade school level crafts with master level craft!
posted by moonmilk at 9:11 PM on December 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

“Now I’ve got some pieces of pottery because of course I do”

So true.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:38 AM on December 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Mod note: This post has been added to the Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 2:39 PM on December 2, 2023 [1 favorite]