Would you like to really enhance your gilding skills? Learn how to distress or antique gold? Is it glass, wood, photographs, art or furniture you want to gild? Never mind, because I am able to teach you the secrets of absolutely amazing gilding, no matter what area you are interested in!
I provide a wide range of classes or personal tuition for those who wish to experience gilding in a variety of formats and locations. It doesn’t matter what your experience or background, the courses can also be tailored to fully suit your personal needs. Over the years, I have worked with many different disciplines of artists, frame-makers, furniture restorers, interior designers, photographers and many more areas. But it's not just for professionals. I also specialise in developing the skills and confidence of complete beginners, so you’ll be in good hands, don’t worry!
I’m able to teach either in my own studio situated on the South of England or I can travel to you, no matter where you are - whether that’s the U.K., U.S. or Australia, it’s not a problem. For professional bodies, colleges and organisations, I offer my services for much larger classes, tailored to suit your needs. Great for wood-working groups, interior designers, artists and more whom wish to add something special to their work.
All the courses are fully tailored to the individual needs of you, the student. Before you arrive, a consultation about the desired outcome for you will be made and we'll discuss your required outcomes, so that everything is ready to go.
EARLY SUMMER TWO DAY TASTER CLASS - HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND
Thursday 18th and Friday 19th June 2026.
These two days are an ideal introduction to the mystery and fascination of gilding and the correct techniques of handling the gold, correct surface preparation and more. It can cover the basics of oil gilding, water gilding or glass gilding. Or even a taste of all three if you're really keen!
Whether you have a professional interest in gilding, would like to restore or renovate home items or just fancy developing a new skill, the gilding experience is guaranteed to provide fun and stimulation, whatever your age, background and interests. You will learn the processes developed over thousands of years and transform almost any surface into a precious metal. Gilding itself, has a long and interesting history that dates back to over 4,500 years ago with the Egyptians. Since then gilding has changed very little.
ONE DAY CONTEMPORARY KINTSUGI
Saturday 22nd August 2026
Kintsugi (golden joinery) started in Japan around 500 years ago. When a clay, porcelain or glass item was broken, instead of hiding any repairs, the art (and idea) of Kintsugi is to celebrate the damage as part of the life journey and history of a piece. This philosophy is a great idea to carry forward today in the ecologically aware conditions that we are exercising on the earth.
Using contemporary materials, this Kintsugi class is a chance to explore the potential of this craft with your own items. Whether you have cracked, broken or smashed vessels that need repairing, or wish to break something anew within the class in order to repair it, any cracks, gaps or chips can be repaired using pure gold-leaf to turn those imperfections into something beautiful.
Vases, plates, bowls and many more things can be explored. However, the Kintsugi process is for decoration only, and the utilitarian nature of the vessel may not be something that can be kept.
With broken pottery, the Japanese would accomplish this with the use of staples and natural resins mixed with powdered gold. In fact, people would sometimes deliberately smash precious family pottery and heirlooms in order to have them repaired by a Kintsugi craftsman and elevate the piece in the home!
For our class, we will be using modern water-based materials, as well as super glue and epoxy resins. The repairs can be completed in either pure yellow gold, or if you prefer white gold according to your taste.
You may work on as many pieces as you can find the time for. You also be invited to take home all the materials that you have been using, so you can carry on Kintsugi in the comfort of your own home.
ONE DAY INTRODUCTION TO INSTACOLL
Saturday 27th June 2026
Saturday 25th July 2026
Saturday 26th September 2026
This one-day practical course introduces participants to a range of Instacoll gilding mediums and their
applications within contemporary decorative and applied arts. Designed as a hands-on workshop, the day will focus on understanding the properties,
working methods, and creative potential of Instacoll products, including Instacoll Base, Miniatum, Signcoll, Instacoll Matt, Instacoll Rapid, and
related variants.
The course is suitable for artists, designers, sign-writers, decorators, conservators, and craftspeople who wish to expand their gilding practice
beyond traditional water or oil gilding methods. No prior gilding experience is required, though those with existing knowledge will benefit from
comparative insights and technical refinements.
ONE DAY GILDING FOR ARTISTS / CHEMICAL PATINATION
Friday 26th June 2026
Friday 25th September 2026
This class has been provided to give an introduction to artists wishing to incorporate gilding into their work.
The class will allow students to learn how copper, silver and gold leaf can be used to enhance their art. After learning the different ways leaf can be applied to surfaces,
you will use chemicals to create patinations and special effects, such as verdigris, sulpharetd colour work and more. You will also be taught how to paint thin lines with
gold leaf to help enhance your work, as well as covering entire surfaces.
This class is suitable for water color artists, mixed media, sculpture and many more disciplines.
For details of the above courses, please just email me and I will send you the information.
PERSONAL CLASS
The Personal Class is for those who prefer a more home or studio based personal experience. I make myself available to you at your request. Again, these classes are tailored to your specifications and ensure undivided personal attention and development, and all tools and materials are brought to you. These sessions can be for yourself, or for more than one person, so you can share costs with a friend or two!
On any of these courses you can learn one, two or all three of the following:
OIL-GILDING Learn how to apply gold leaf and other precious metals to a variety of surfaces. Several different surfaces are explored, and a variety of leaf is used, including copper, silver, white gold and 23.5 karat gold. Lesser metals such as Copper, Bronze and Silver are frequently placed upon surfaces, such as picture frames and then tarnished to create a whole range of pleasing aesthetic effects. So you could produce a copper gilded panel, that is tarnished and then finished with a design on top in a precious metal of your choice.
Or, if you prefer, stick to the gold. Learn how to create a wide range of effects using different types of gold leaf on a variety of coloured backgrounds. Learn how to correctly distress and antique surfaces using different techniques.
Do you have something in mind that you want to gild? Great! Bring it along!
WATER-GILDING Learn the basics of water-gilding, the technique most commonly used to decorate picture frames and furniture. You will personally make up ancient recipes, apply gesso and bole to the surface and ensure a flawless finish followed by the experience of applying the gold itself. Burnishing skill is developed and so is antiquing finishes and more, including Granitto (incised or punched gesso) and Pastiglia (raised gesso) techniques. The final finish can be burnished, distressed or antiqued according to your taste.
GLASS GILDING
Learn how to apply gold leaf and other metals to glass and manipulate it in different ways to produce different finishes. We can look at creating antique mirrors, creating decorative effects and blending colours on the surface or even drawing into the gold to create bespoke pieces of art. There is so much that you can do with glass gilding, so free your creativity and give it a go. Although Gold is the most commonly used metal in gilding, other precious metals such as Platinum, Palladium and Silver can also be used.
If needed, I can also provide details of accommodation for those who will be travelling.
PLEASE ENQUIRE FOR DATES AND PRICES
If you have any questions regarding your learning requirements, please just drop me a line and I'll get straight back to you.