I’m not trying to channel Liberace with all this gold leaf, really I’m not.

It’s just that recent projects begged to be gilded. I imagine ultimately a mix of modern with more sedate traditional, but for now it’s gold leaf, folks. Got two mirrors at auction and the finish was not ugly, but not spectacular. Got out the gold-leafing materials and realized it is NOT a party when working on such a large scale. These are BIG ASS mirrors. Before shots below.

1/LIGHT SANDING FOLLOWED BY TINTED PRIMER (supposed to be red red but it’s more like dark pink).

2/Next step was to apply “sizing” which is the glue that makes gold leaf stick (NOTE TO SELF:  DO NOT APPLY GOLD LEAF ON WINDY DAY)

3/Finally, apply a  little antique gel color on top to soften the gold…AND THE RESULTS.

…I did one mirror “LIGHT”, meaning cracks but not as much paint showing through…

…and I did the other mirror “HEAVY” with a little more paint peeking out…

…a fun project…but best started with a smallish piece for first timers.