Snowed in…

Well, here I am, snowed in at a KOA in Cedar City, Utah. I shoveled a foot or more away from my doorstep this morning. The snow I have here and the snow at home in Montrose is what’s keeping me from coming home. I’m pulling our new travel trailer and just don’t want to deal with the snowy roads, etc. …

30th Annual Gilder’s Conclave

A short video of the 30th Annual Gilder’s Conclave held in Bakersfield, CA. A group of gilders who are carrying on this craft of gilding in reverse on glass. The first Conclave was held by Rick Glawson in his studio/shop in Willmington, CA. The Conclave is held in honor o Rick and in the tradition of the masters of the …

Gilded Letters

I seem to be getting some nice requests for some gilded letters lately, which is good. I really like doing this and enjoy the process as well as the result. Gilded letters are typically done on the reverse of glass which allows for the brilliance of the metal to shine. So far I’m doing this all by hand, old school. …

Verre Eglomise

Ha! Bet you don’t know what that means. Well, stay tuned and I’ll tell you all about it. As you know I wear a number of different trade hats here in ye olde shoppe. I’m a picture framer, an artist in water color and oil paints, custom sign letterer and a gilder. The gilder hat I wear is what this …

Hand Lettered Sign Work by Mike Simpson

These are some examples of the hand lettered signs  I do. This is a field that is dear to my heart. If you’ve followed along for very long you know I appreciate anything that is well made by hand. Snow shoes, canoes, violins, picture frames, motorcycles and hot rod cars to name a few. Hand work in signage ranks right up …

Catching up

It’s hard to know where to start, it’s been so long since I posted anything. I see that I left you good folks in Battlemountain, NV on my way to Petaluma, CA for a screen printing and gilding workshop I attended at Letterhead Sign Supply. In short I will say that it was a great class. Ron and Kristi were …

Snowy Day in April

Here’s the view outside of the studio/gallery window this morning. I can’t believe it. Sure was a surprise to wake up to this morning. I guess I’ll just spend some quality time in front of the easel. This is a little piece I just finished up yesterday. It’s all gilded in reverse (on the backside of the glass) with 23kt …

Art Nouveau On Glass

This is a test piece I just finished. 23kt gold for the word “leaf”. I used 1-shot Lettering Enamel for the colors and design. The reason it is a test piece is because I will use this same lettering and design as part of  larger lettering and a design on the windows of my shop van pictured below. The reason …

More Gold

Just finished up this reversed glass 23kt gold leafed framed sign to go in the front window of the shop. I did this all by hand…no computers involved here. I’m luvin’ it.

28th Conclave of Gilders

Here’s a short video of what we’re doing in Bakersfield, CA. A bunch of really talented people and a wealth of knowledge being shared. http://youtu.be/2JupFOIfqA4