I call the silver leaf “humble” because I think gold gets all the glory. Even if you say the word “gilding”, the immediate thought (at least for me) is a beautiful gold leafed ceiling or frame. I do love silver leaf — in fact, I prefer it over gold because I think there are more aging coloration options. I remember one particular time in a class where I antiqued my silver leaf with an eggplant-tinted topcoat. Mmm. I also remember using amber-tinted shellac over silver leafed trim and it created a more sedate tone of gold. Yum. (I tore my studio apart looking for those samples to show you. I wonder where they could have gone? I seriously need to organize my space. You may get a post six months from now entitled “I Found Them!!!”. :) Sorry — let’s keep moving along.)
This post was really inspired by an advertisement I saw for Cactus Stone & Tile. They have introduced a new collection called Pathos created by Petra Antiqua. The main visual has a silver-leafed travertine tile…and it is gorgeous. (I do believe they have other leaf options as well.) I thought all the artisans and gilders out there would love a peek. Maybe it’ll inspire some more creative juices involving leaf?
Talk to you soon!
My jaw dropped and my head is spinning.
[...] was inspired by this post over on Fauxology to explore the Petra Antiqua website further. Now I am just inspired to gild, oh, [...]
It takes one person to see a pic and then leap into a whole new creative realm. I am SO happy this inspired those creative juices I was talking about!
Silver is my door #1 as well, though if I could only pick one on a deserted island I think I’d have to choose gold…
Beautiful travertine!
I do love this look, Regina! I am not a silver or gold leaf person….leave that to my talented friends, but this type of finish catches me every time. It seems, to me, to be so authentic…..I prefer this to all the metallic paint finishes.
There is a tone of this type of leafing that I especially like. Shell gold….a rather pale, subtle gold. How is that done?
Thanks for including this in your site….you always have the best ideas and visuals!
Hi, Jennifer!
There was a project once that we worked on with other artisans where silver leaf was applied and a beautiful amber tinted shellac was applied on top. It gave a beautiful gold tone to the silver but it was subtle. I made a note to remember that formula.
Perhaps adding a good tint to the shellac will get it to the tone you like. There is also Japan leaf which is silver leaf that comes tinted in different colors. Hmm. That might be a good blog post subject….