Making it Happen with Camilla Rose Signwriter

Working alongside other professional creatives is my favourite way to work. Turning my skills towards different techniques and unlocking the power of the print process to be applied in diverse ways is full of purpose.

This time, it is for Reverse Glass Gilding with Plymouth-based sign writer Camilla Rose. Applying gold leaf to glass is a technique employed for centuries by sign makers and lettering specialists with a rich history in the decorative arts. After receiving Developing Your Creative Practice funding from Art Council England to delve deeper into this heritage craft and integrate it into her contemporary arts practice. Camilla commissioned me to work alongside her, to bring my expertise to the table and help realise her vision for things.

We navigated our way together thoughtfully through the process, trying, testing and negotiating things along the way. This involved a drawing Camilla produced by hand of an old advert for a big four Norton motorbike with instructions on maintaining your motorbike with simple annotations. Camilla wanted to capture the hand-drawn image without digitising it on the computer before exposing it to the silk screen. 

The photos show the water-gilded gold leaf sheets on the back of the glass, which are then burnished, re-gilded where necessary, and then smoothed again, ready for the screen print to be applied. Ocean Studio kindly let us take over the workshop to test the materials before committing to the one chance to get the screen print near perfect onto the gilded gold leaf sheets which Camilla had carefully crafted onto the glass.Working our way through it methodically paid off, and the final piece turned out really well; this is a great start and gives Camilla the tools to move forward with this technique. 

It’s fulfilling to know that my printmaking knowledge effectively supported this exciting heritage work in the realms of Signwriting. I’m looking forward to seeing where Camilla takes it next.

Find more about Camilla Rose and her approach in this short film: About — Camilla Rose Signwriter