GILDING
17
Flip the piece and paint the
surface with oil or water sizing.
In this project, I am using oil sizing.
For oil sizing, you need to wash
the brush with acetone or lacquer
thinner.18
Depending on the humidity,
the curing time varies from
fi ve to 15 minutes. If this is your fi rst
time trying this, make some test
pieces to fi nd out the curing time.
Once the sizing gets tacky like the
back of masking tape, it’s a good
time to apply the metal leaf.19
Gently peel off the metal leaf
using the bamboo tongs and
place it onto the piece. In this proj-
ect I am using Marble Blue colored
silver leaf. Metal leaf is extremely
thin and easily fl ies away even by
breathing. It is good idea to turn
off air conditioning or anything else
that blows air around during this
process.20
Very gently, tap with a cotton
ball wrapped in tissue paper.21
Let cure completely for 12-24
hours.17
20
18
21
19
22
15 16
22
Use a soft brush to remove
excess metal leaf and
clean up. To protect the surface,
I recommend coating with clear
enamel spray or paint. Attach
jump rings and a chain to fi nish
your pendant top.MOMOKO OKADA is from Hokkaido, Japan,
and has masters degrees from Japan and the
U.S. Currently, she teaches traditional Japanese
metalsmithing techniques in Tucson, Arizona, and
is the owner of Momokoya.com. Momokoya carries
various traditional Japanese metalsmithing tools
and materials and off ers technique videos the artist
has produced. You can see more of her work at
http://www.okadamomoko.com.More About
the Artist
THEIR TURN, PAGE 8
CULTURAL FUSION, PAGE 26MAY/JUNE 2020 25
22 Okada_EssenceOfJapan_mayjune20.indd 25 3/16/20 3:37 PM