In the beginning there was the golden light that shined from the pure element of 24 carat gold. When it was first thinned into sheets and applied to glass by the Egyptians, it resulted in beautiful mirrors. Since that time, reverse-glass gilding evolved into magnificent Victorian commercial signage.
It became a tasteful advertising tool to promote booze, smokes and jewelry as well as bestowing prestige upon law and banking firms. In the 20th century, the time-consuming processes gave way to crass but profitable plastic signs, which were illuminated so they could be viewed from gas-powered vehicles at great distances.
Gilding is hard work and can be challenging to sell to price-conscious clients, but just as some of the tradition of gilding began to die out, there was a resurgence of love and appreciation for the craft in the 1970s that was spearheaded by individuals in Colorado calling themselves “Letterheads.” And from that movement there emerged a singularly passionate individual known as Rick Glawson, who sought to revive all of the lapsed and forgotten techniques relating to gilded decoration.
Daddy Fine Gold’s commitment to the craft stimulated a new vitality for this work, which flowered during his legendary California Conclave Letterhead meetings held at his amazing Esoteric Sign Supply store. After Rick died, suddenly there was a tradition that lived on through memorial gatherings dedicated to the revival work that was his specialty.
One such occasion is the Dead Man Letterhead Meet held at the End of the Line in the Town of Machine (not far from Hayward, California) that is hosted by one of Glawson’s most accomplished students, the eccentric Larry White, aka William Blake, who converted his shop into a wild western setting for this unique annual gathering. The Deadmen, as they are called, seek to relive a glorious past in which all signage emerged solely from the brush and the gilders tip, and perhaps the barrel of a gun, or at least three days of watching Western movies while they gild.
I had the honor of speaking with two of the younger participants, Colt Bowden and Ken Davis, who represent the high road to the future of the craft. I found it interesting to inquire into why they have virtually dedicated their lives to a set of antiquated techniques that seem to bring them great contentment. I will attempt to paraphrase some of the revelations that I gleaned from these two young masters of the trade who emerged just as yet another sign painting revival was evolving within the last few years.
Colt Bowden
Producer of the pamphlet series, “How to Paint Signs and Influence People.”
“I am usually experimenting with something a little bit original in a long line of already been dones. At the same time I’m trying not to over-reach past the guidelines of established practice so my work will look right. I try to find my own voice in a tradition in which it is tough to be original. It is very time consuming work, but I strive to work at a pace where I feel happy with the process. This can mean that sometimes I undercharge, but there is no other way to do it other than strive for a good connection with a client who understands it takes a while. I need my customers to grasp the fact that it is impossible to do this work quickly or for too low a price. At the same time there is a challenge to charge fairly and not be greedy with clients who can afford to pay more.”
Ken Davis
“I got excited about gold leaf as I helped Josh Luke (formerly of New Bohemia Signs in San Francisco) do a transom address in Pacific Heights in San Francisco. I got to see how many steps were involved in reverse glass gilding work, and I was impressed by how there seemed to be no middle ground between a good job and a poor one. You have to be 100 percent honest with yourself when evaluating your quality level. Anything halfway would be unacceptably mediocre. I felt that the surface gilding I was doing was quite limited compared to what I was seeing Josh do on the back of glass. I found that if you want to improve, you have to be willing to fail a couple times. I find skateboarding and gilding to be somewhat similar because you have to be ready to hit hard on your limitations and fight the urge to be content with your previous limits.
I draw all my images and lettering by hand, and I don’t use digital or mechanical aids. Even when I use vinyl masking I cut it by hand, not with a plotter. It is possible that the final rendering of some jobs could be enlarged mechanically for some reason, but only after it has been thoroughly composed by hand, otherwise some important character will be lacking from the work. With slower hand renderings there are checks and balances to make sure that everything goes into it that should. And then ultimately when I’m ready to paint, I can blaze through, and just follow the final flow of the work.
“When working with clients there has to be a ‘governor’ on the process. I have to be able to access the quality level I’m after. If I just do what the client asks for without the governor then we run the risk of problems like wrong proportions or contrast issues among other things, and I can easily wind up stuck with something below my standards. You see the client doesn’t really understand why my best work is what it is. They tend to get invested in some aspect of the status or drama of the experience as if their life depended on it. People see me working and get attached to some part of what they see and it can become a superficial sideshow compared to the essence of the work I’m trying to achieve. I do need clients to be enthusiastic about what I do, but sometimes that can miss the point and get in the way. The 7th Son job worked out so well because there was a good mutual respect for our different capabilities and that is the ideal scenario.”