REVERSED GLASS PAINTING

I use the ancient technique of reverse glass painting.

I love glass because it has its own life, and, in a subtle way, it takes you inside the old time lores. The metal leaf, the ink and the oil colours, mixed up with bronze, complete the sense of time, past and present together, as if each work opens a secret gate to another life...

When painting on the back of the glass, the first element painted is the first seen on the other side. In the begining I normally make a drawing on paper. I need the drawing to support my imagination, but, when drawing, I “see” all the picture I am going to paint, from the beginning to the end. Of course things may change during the process (they often do), but the general feeling / the emotion that inspired me remains. The second step is to “put” the drawing on glass: I use black ink. The third step (not compulsory) is to make accents with bronze or metal leaf; than I add layers of colours, mix them on my pallete, or mix them directly on glass, to achieve the profoundness I need.