What Does It Mean?

What does gold leaf mean to us when it is used in a painting?  To me it means the breath of God has been added into it, but that's only part of it.  And yet is God not in every painting that an artist does, so  that in another way it becomes a conundrum if we try to actually designate or pinpoint that this or that is what the addition of the gold actually means?

Okay then, what if we set aside gold leaf for icon writing, the painting of an icon?  What if we say that this icon panel above, with this particular shape, and covered with this gold leaf should have an icon painted on it?  Then what if we ask, should it be a mundane person or human being, or should it be a saint, --- except that a saint is one who has been at once a human being, and God's own servant too?  And what if following this train of thought means in some fashion that we could actually stretch this out and encompass both the human and the Divine, and we know that it's a bridge of sorts to have this icon window?  Does this mean it's a bridge that goes only one way... or can it be two ways?

The two people I want to paint on this icon panel are my friend Mike, and his mother Lil, who are both dear people in my life, and in the lives of many others.  Here is the beautiful photograph I will be painting from, taken by Mike's father, who passed away early, when Mike was only 12 years old.

With this loving pose, does their body language or something in their eyes evoke for you Mary holding the baby Jesus, not in a way that equates them with this, but is this in some way a window to them too?  If I don't put a veil on Lil, or include halos around their heads, is part of Mary still resting within Lil as a mother, and is part of Christ as the baby Jesus still within Mike, even to this day now that he is an adult and one who has many responsibilities to others?  If I try painting their countenances on gold as if it is an icon, what will this mean?  These are only some of the questions I am constantly asking myself and sincerely wishing to explore, not only in my work as an artist, but also in my spiritual life.  It is a sincere exploration that only continues to raise more questions as I go along.

Can I make a work of art like this even as I am exploring these issues, or is there more I must actually understand, about icons, and about gold, and even about what it means to be a saint, first before doing so?  I hope I've opened a conversation about this with you, my readers, and I'd like to continue this conversation by doing a series of posts on some of the various existing religious traditions surrounding the use of gold leaf, and on the making of icons too. 

I'll close for now with an invocation.  It came to me some years ago from my Reiki teacher Delia, who has also been an important spiritual teacher of mine.  The various colors of the Ray Elohim are said by some to be the creators of universes!  Hard to even begin to wrap the mind around this application of  of gold, or this idea of the Rays in general too, expansive as it is.  In some ways the invocation itself is full of mystery, and yet maybe even within its veiled words lies its very power.

                                             Invocation to the Gold Ray

I call upon the Elohim of the Gold Ray to pour Divine Wisdom into my consciousness.  
I call upon the Elohim of the Gold Ray to reveal the weights and measures, 
the balance and proportion of the universes.  
I call upon the Elohim of the Gold Ray to illuminate my mind so it will grow peaceful  
with understanding.
May I be wise in my actions, balanced in my emotions, peaceful in my mind.

Progress update on the first "Mary in Kimberly" panel painting

(click on the art in progress to view it larger; as previously explained, the red clay bole background will later be covered with gold leaf and bordered with the mother of pearl, a sample of which is included at the lower right)

At this time I am working on the veil, hands, and lower portions of the portrait. This post shows further work in egg tempera, on and around the hands.

Preparing the first panel for gilding

I've paused my work on this portrait to begin the gold-leafing for it's background which helps establish the outline of the veil. Later on I'll be adding mother-of-pearl as a border.

"The 'Mary' in Terry #2" with gold leaf

"The 'Mary' in Terry #2," 25 1/2" x 19 1/2", pastel and 24 kt. gold leaf on La Carte pastelboard

I have minor details to fill in at the bottom of the image, but here is another detail view

Gilding a Panel

I've been forgetting to mention this, but I've been gold-leafing this special panel for a mother-daughter portrait of Kimberly and her daughter Sophia, which as a painting will also be pertinent for my spiritual portrait series, and I did a video clip of myself gilding this panel.  If you haven't already seen it, check it out on my miniature blog, The Ruby Slippers, along with the other posted video clip, a 'virtual visit to my studio.'

Because a short video only allows for highlighting a few aspects of gilding, I want to be sure to mention two more things for those unfamiliar with the gilding process.  It's hard to show the difference in surfaces via online and in video, but I chose oil gilding for this panel because for this particular painting I favored going with it's less shiny, more satiny patina.  The difference between oil gilding and water gilding is that water gilding is burnished with a special tool to a very high shine.  A slow-drying size will give a bit more shine than a fast-drying size, so that's in between the other two options.  Second, I skipped an important but recommended step in my video by not priming my gesso panel first with a venetian red or ochre primer before gilding, because I wanted to expedite my process with this project, but I don't want to skip saying that traditionally this gets laid down first before fast or slow-drying size is added to the panel.  It looks beautiful if a little of the venetian red primer shows through the gold, and it saves gold.

I'll post more progress on "The 'Mary' in Kimberly" later today.

"The 'Mary' in Kimberly", Two Versions

Study for "The 'Mary' in Kimberly," 19"W x 25"H, pastel and gold leaf on pink paper

Sketch for "The 'Mary' in Kimberly," 19"W x 25"H, charcoal and pastel on grey paper

Both of these pastels were done in preparation for portraying the 'Mary' in Kimberly, and the study with gold leaf has already been purchased by its model.