gold & adorare
- artistforaday
- Nov 15, 2015
- 2 min read
gold: the color of illumination, love, compassion, courage, passion, magic, and wisdom. what we all need every day. and what times like these remind us of: our power to choose what to bring to whatever pain, hurt, or offense comes our way.
gold gilding is a way of making precious. an artisan practice in florence that dates back to the medieval period, where gold was used to stand for paradise, the realm of pure love & light, god's dwelling place, and also to elevate any religious image to the level of most special, most honored.
add a little gold gilding in your day? a little on the heart? a little as you walk down the street & meet the gaze of a stranger? a little as you breathe & are thankful for the marvelous beauty of the present moment, and with that gratitude, you gold gild, make precious, bring value. in italian, indorare, to gold gild, sounds much like the word adorare, to adore.
these are the things that came to mind when i came to write about a gold leafing workshop taken by an artist-for-a-day who came to florence from south africa seeking renewal and inspiration, and who found it in this antique art of making something plain and ordinary into something magical.
above is one of her creations, and then, below, a touch of gold 'leafing' made by the sun a couple of days later as it gilded a statue in the divine boboli gardens, making us both stand & wonder at the sacred present moment & its light. may we continue to see the opportunities to gold-gild.
