La Belle Miette

[BruceJackson]

Hi gang. I posted some photos on facebook of a recent job for a macaron shop in Melbourne (Collins street) done in classic Parisian style. Rod asked for some close-ups, so here is a selection of photos. Everything is hand-painted. No masks, vinyl or tape. The pictures also include mica powders and gold leaf backing so they reflect with a bit of metallic appearance. Personally, I think it's the prettiest shop in the city...but then I am biased.

[BruceJackson]

OK...you want descriptions, don't you???....the dots in the lettering are done using clear epoxy (like envirotex). It sits up nice and high giving a better dome shape than single part materials. The gilding in the lower half of the letters has also been rubbed back to give is a more 3D appearance. The mirror areas are 12 carat white gold, laid in a diamond pattern and lightly rubbed back to accentuate the pattern in the leaf. The rest is technically pretty standard, with a little bit of abalone to add a nice detail.... I've taken some video using my phone which I plan to cobble it together when I find some nice (free) non-linear editing software that will read the files....Here also some extra photos including a couple of other recent mirror panels

[Tony Segale]

Stunning. Beautiful.
Meticulously crafted, wonderful pictorials.
Diamond layed leaf, I'm guessing in the verre e'glomise style?

One of a kind, Master work.
Thanks for sharing.

[Larry White]

Exquisite Bruce!
Simply outstanding!

Love those letters!

Bias?....more like Right!

Great job!

[Tyler Tim]

Inspired... I'm sure it will be highly photograph by many causal viewers who can not fathom the amount of craftsmanship that went into it's creation.

You should be very bias and with good reason.

Tim

[Dan Seese]

Hey Bruce,

Superb work, as always.

Thanks for making my day!

[erik winkler]

A beautifull shop indeed.
Looks pretty authentic Bruce.
The pictures are painted in reverse?

[Rich Hawthorne]

Wow, very nice indeed Bruce. Yep, you have very good reason to be biased. Few could do this imo.

I have a quick question on the brightline with the dots. You mentioned everything was hand painted so that includes the brightline as well? I am thinking it would be very hard, if not impossible, to screen that brightline with the 3 dim dots in the letters. Was the epoxy a 5 min setup, two part epoxy?

Got my wheels turning. Beautiful technique, fabulous execution and gorgeous results. Makes me want to book a flight across the pond just to see it in person.

[Doug Bernhardt]

Outstanding work Bruce. I'm not sure how you handled the pictorials but a few years ago whilst wandering around London with Smitty I had a chance to have a close look at a few Paris pieces from around 100 yrs or so ago. The pictorials were done on canvas and stuck on from the back.

[BruceJackson]

Erik, yep...everything painted in reverse on the glass. For paintings, I started with laying down some highlights in mica powder. Next stage is painting the foreground elements and forming the shapes. Follow on with additional layers, more mica powder work, working back towards the black background. In the areas where I want it to really pop, such as the green peacock feathers, I use transparent and translucent colors with a gold leaf background....The reflective effect doesn't really show in the photos.

Rich, I don't do any screen printing. I never have. All brush-work. The epoxy takes a few hours to set. It's a water-clear type used for thick topcoats.

Hi Doug, yes, I know you've looked at lots of those. I've seen your photos of them. Those old french ones from "Benoist et fils" and other studios are on canvas. Seems two different disciplines of painting (oil on canvas painting and gilding on glass) come together in the one studio or project.
It used to be the same with the sign industry here in previous generations. Some guys just did the pictorial stuff, some did lettering/gilding.
The old pictorial pub signs on glass done here where similar. the pictures painted "right-reading" on sized paper and later transfered to the glass.
I bet there was a degree of "friendly" competition over which skill was the more worthy.

[Scott Martin]

Really nice work Bruce! Love the twist treatment in the lower half of the letters!

Scott

[Andrew Lawrence]

Really great work Bruce! Love all that ornamentation in the window borders too. Got any photos of the window lettering to the right and left of the door?