One of the joys of working at home is the immersive soundscape provided by garden birds. Blackbirds, pigeons, blue, great and long-tailed tits, starlings, sparrows and goldfinches all contribute to the cacophany that forms the backdrop to my work. And oh the goldfinches. According to the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch they have had a particularly good couple of years.
Perhaps because of the non-stop bird sound, these birds are creeping into my work……..
Since January, I’ve had my head down in the studio learning and experimenting. I was incredibly fortunate to be awarded a substantial grant by Arts Council England to spend this year developing my Essex Crystals. So when Covid 19 and the lockdown struck, I was able to simply bury myself in my workshop and get on with it.
I’ll post more about my adventures since January at another time, but I wanted to share something of the goldfinch process.
I’d been slogging away on some larger work, but felt I needed to go small…..
I started with a flat piece of glass, cut a disc and engraved the goldfinch onto the reverse. This is a process called reverse intaglio carving. The 50p is here for reference.
I then painted the engraving – here is the first layer before firing. This time key for reference!
Several more layers were applied and fired each time before gilding the reverse in a lovely rose gold. The next task is to find a setting. This feels like a heritage piece so I have in mind to find a vintage setting that I can fit this into. Watch this space!
Victoria Scholes 