Artist, Restorer and Conservator
Water Gilding, Oil Gilding & Verre Églomisé, Oriental Lacquer & Japanning, Painted Finishes & Decorative Surfaces
2008 - Present Day
The experience gained by years of working as a restorer and conservator has given Sue a deep appreciation and interest in traditional gilding and painting techniques which date back to medieval times and beyond, but still have a valid and valuable contribution to offer contemporary art. The
gold leaf and egg tempera being integral to the expression of the image. They carry a deep sense of history.
1996 - Present Day
Restorer and conservator working for private clients, clockmakers, antique dealers and conservators.
Gilder for the David Paul Workshop restoring frames and gilding new bespoke frames for private clients and London based galleries.
Site work on restoration and conservation projects in great houses and churches in England; Jersey; New York and Boston, U.S.A; Kosovo.
1979 - 1988
Trained by and worked for Reginald Dudman, Antique Restorations, London, restoring gilded, painted and decorated eighteenth and nineteenth century furniture for the London antiques trade.
Two years on site the restoring the carved, painted and gilded Throne Canopy in the House of Lords, Palace of Westminster.
"Knowing how to do, therefore knowing how to observe, in order to know how to intervene".
Maximillian Leuthenmayr - Conservator
Gilding & Egg Tempera
Methods & Materials
These combined art forms date back to Egyptian and Byzantine times. In Europe, mediæval panel painting using gold leaf and egg tempera (ground pigments bound in egg yolk) reached its zenith in the 14th and early 15th centuries. These processes which used the technology of the time with the natural materials at hand were perfected by the 14th century. Recipes that were passed down from the Florentine artist Giotto (1266-1337) remain in use today.
Egg tempera was gradually supplanted in the 15th century by 'oil paints', and by 1600 virtually all great paintings were executed in oil. For 300 years egg tempera painting lay dormant. It wasn't until the early 1900s that a revival of egg tempera began.
It is only within the tradition of the Church that gilding and egg tempera have been used continuously throughout history in the portrayal of the sacred. The slow layering processes, which require discipline and patience, lend themselves to the inclusion of the ritual of prayer and contemplation and continue to be used in the creation of icons today.
Modern materials are unable to replicate the beauty and durability of these ancient techniques and so their unique characteristics can still be much valued and appreciated.
Egg Tempera
Gold Leaf
Pigments
