“Shimmering Aspen Grove” 36″ x 48″ oil and metal leaf on canvas – $5,000
Whenever someone asks me if I will ever go back to painting oils without a metal leaf background, I always answer, “I’m having too much fun to give up the “shimmer”. It has been nearly ten years since I started using composition metal leaf as a background of my oil painted plants and trees and I still get excited when I start a new painting.
The metal leaf is composed of 88% copper and 12% zinc for the gold color and the silver color is 100% aluminum. The leaves come in thin 5 1/2″ sheets in tissue paper booklets as either a “transfer” variety that can be cut into squares or shapes or “loose” sheets which are torn into bits, varying down to the size of a small grain of rice and applied over an adhesive layer. Each layer of metal leaf is then sealed to prevent oxidation and a final coating of varnish is applied for further protection.
“Abundant Harvest” 36″ x 48″ oil and metal leaf on canvas – $4,700
Since each layer of application must dry before the next can be applied, I’m usually working on three paintings over a period of months. Is all of this work worth it? When I see all of the shimmering paintings add light and reflected color to my surroundings, my spirits are lifted and I feel excited. This has become more important to me during the recent years of national and global sadness and I hope my paintings cheer others as well.
“A Dazzle of Dogwoods” 36″ x 48″ oil and metal leaf on canvas – $4,800
The painting above is on the cover of the 2025 Pomegranate calendar of my work. Please click on my website link to view more paintings as well as links to my galleries and Pomegranate products.
