Four Seasons on Silver.

Here are pictures of another series of ornaments on (white) gold leaf.

This is a set of panels I have painted recently for a french designer based in New Rochelle : Jean Carrau

He is now designing gorgeous interiors in the New York and Connecticut areas but  is originally a very talented decorative painter. His work features in Jean-Loup Daraux's book " En passant par la Demeure."

I have been working for him for a few years and for this particular job, he showed his clients a picture of a painting I exhibited on Maison & Objet a couple of years ago. It was an exact copy of one of the ornate panels of the Boudoir de Marie Antoinette in Fontainebleau.

As they needed four of them they had the idea of asking me to illsutrate the four seasons.

I reserached neo-classical female figures that would work and did a sample so that Jean's clients could have a precise idea of what I was proposing in terms of color, patina...

As I often do, I did the paintings in my studio, shipped them over to Jean who took care of the installation and of the finishing touches.

The background is white gold layed on linen canvas ( my friend Malek Moussouni has done the gilding). I painted directly on the gold leaf this time. It is better to topcaot the goldleaf before painting  but as the canvas had to be rolled up for shipping it was impossible to protect them with shellac ( it is britle and would flake off if rolled up) . 

It makes the painting a little more risky ( impossible to correct a mistake) and  delicate ( the surface is very slippery ) but it is an excellent exercise that will enhance your brushwork!