All images © by Paul Nitsche 1991-2024.
artist paul nitsche
Several hours of gilding later, the base for the upcoming sculpture, The Ephemeral Knot, is finished. In a few days it will go to woodworker Ed Wohl, who is always kind enough to help me with the clear coat finish work.
Detail of the finished gold leaf base for The Ephemeral Knot sculpture.
The finished red oxide base coat.
The finished gold leaf on the underside of the base.
Applying the gold leaf to the top of the base.
The first of the gold leaf sheets to be laid into the base ornament.
The finished gilded base, less a gloss clear coat.
Detail of the gilded base and ornament.
The primer and color layers being added to the base for The Ephemeral Knot, prior to gold leaf. Traditionally, the red oxide colored layers would be a clay bole. Instead, I use an acrylic for durability. The base will finally be ready to gold leaf this weekend.
Detail of the bone ornament, it still needs a few more layers of paint.
The base in progress for The Ephemeral Knot.
Detail of the corner ornament in progress.
It was great to be outside in a sunny warm Spring evening opening the mold for the plates for The Ephemeral Knot and All Horizons Lost... But as soon as I started removing the investment, I knew my pieces were in trouble. Maybe the metal was poured too hot, maybe my investment mix wasn't right, but there was an astounding amount of flashing. Some of the castings can be salvaged, but some will have be redone.
The investment mold outside the foundry. I couldn't wait to see how the castings turned out.
After I removed most of the investment from the castings, it was obvious the pieces had a huge amount of flashing. This image is of the long All Horizons Lost... plate.
The opossum mandible still with a bit of investment around it.
The investment tree with the investment removed. Look at all that flashing- I just felt sick at this point. It's as if I brought this up from the ocean floor.
The All Horizons Lost... plate. What a mess. Besides the flashing it is warped and twisted. I tried to make it thinner than I usually do and I think that contributed to the distortion.
The ugly seven. I think I can salvage most of this, but the long title plate for All Horizons Lost... will have to be redone. There are many hours of grinding and finish work ahead of me.