Water Gilding Workshop

Water gilding is the gorgeous traditional technique of applying gold leaf over a specially prepared surface for a mirror-bright shiny result! I have wanted to learn how to do traditional water gilding for a long time.

So I asked my colleague Melissa Goldman, an accomplished gilder and furniture restoration expert, to teach me and a few of my decorative painter friends. We decided to develop a class for experienced artisans wishing to enhance and refine their skills, hosted at my spacious studio in San Francisco.

this class will be offered again soon. please check back



Check out the details below, and join us in December for three days of gold heaven!



Water Gilding 2 day Intensive
Saturday-Sunday December 12-13, 2009 9 AM - 5:30 PM

this class will be offered again soon. please check back

Learn the history and principles of the ancient art of Water Gilding.
Hands-on preparation and application of historic, non-toxic materials such as gesso, bole, rabbit skin glue and gilding liquor.
Students will learn to lay genuine 22kt gold leaf.
Various patination techniques will also be discussed, demonstrated and applied.
We will water gild sample mouldings and create "burnished" and "matte" effects
Students will be able to take their samples home.

Class fee $695

Includes gilding materials: wooden picture frame and/or mouldings, 1 book of 22k gold leaf, cheese cloth, horse-hair cloth, 1lb.whiting, rabbit skin glue, wet dry sand paper, cotton, mixing sticks, Selhamin red and yellow clay, mica powder, shellac, rottenstone and raw and burnt umber earth pigments.
Includes tool kit valued at $120.00 with 2 brushes, a gilder’s tip, pad, agate burnisher, gilder’s knife, mop, vaseline, steel wool, and cotton.

$695! for 2 full days of instruction, tools, materials, and lunch! both days!
(deal-o-rama!)




Sgraffito 1 day workshop
Monday, December 14 , 2009 9 AM - 4 PM

Students will learn the traditional techniques of Sgrafitto; the art of painting a color over burnished gold, followed by using a soft tool to "scratch" designs and lines through the paint, thereby revealing the gold beneath. You can do very detailed ornament this way. Spectacular! A handmade bone tool will be provided to each student.

Class Fee: $275.


Please note: these are not beginner classes! Some previous experience handling metal leaf is helpful in learning this technique.


Deposit of $275 is required to reserve space in the Water Gilding Workshop
Deposit of $100 is required for the Sgraffito Workshop
Send a check or reserve via PayPal
Remaining payment is due the first day of class

this class will be offered again soon. please check back
Contact Lynne Rutter with questions, or to reserve space in these classes.


Melissa Goldman with some shining examples of her work


All images in this post ©Melissa Goldman.

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

blue and ivory

I was talking with one of my fellow painters about what to do when you are stumped. I said "try some blue." I seem to remember one of my mentors telling me that it was one of the rules of good design, that there needs to be a bit of blue in every well dressed room. This advice has never failed me!
Think about it, does your great grandmother's flow blue platter ever look bad anywhere?

Likewise when I was asked to add a bit of ornament and color to an antique ivory-colored corner hutch, for a Provinçal-style room designed by Claudia Juestal of Adeeni Design, I turned to blue. How perfect for a room with lots of red and yellow!

The enhancement of this piece started with a loosely painted wedgewood-blue scroll. On the cabinet doors, scenes from a favorite toile de jouy pattern are a nod to the French country tradition.

Another blue and ivory piece I painted recently is this large folding screen, which was custom built for the Vintage Laundry room I designed in the San Francisco Decorator Showcase.

The screen is painted with some neoclassical motifs and lighthearted singerie scenes, with monkeys sewing and doing laundry. This restrained hint of color added just right amount of the blue finesse to dress up the room.

Click on images to view larger


Okay but what about other colors? Have a look in the gallery on my website, to see some more colorful painted furniture.


All work in this post ©Lynne Rutter
screen photos by David Papas

Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting