Danni Bradford uses a heritage skill to create gilded glass artwork s depicting the natural world in motion
VISITORS TO DANNI Bradford’s home studio, in the North Devon town of Bideford, are left in no doubt that they have arrived at the right place. The beautifully gilded number and embellishment in the fanlight above her front door glints in the spring sunlight: it is a golden clue to the rich creativity that lies within.
Outside, in the steeply sloping back garden, Danni is busy in the studio, dextrously cutting to size an incredibly fine sheet of 24-carat gold leaf. A breeze through the open door disturbs further sheets of copper leaf; shivering them to life on her workbench. Gulls from the nearby R iver Torridge mourn overhead. Nature is never far from Danni’s consciousness, and, as a winner of the Contemporary Natural World Artist of the Year award, she often uses her exceptional skills to raise awareness of endangered species.
Danni specialises in the ancient heritage craft of glass gilding, known as verre églomisé. With a degree in illustration and fine art, she has worked in many different art fields over the years and has been using this type of gilding since she first discovered the technique more than a decade ago.
“I first learned to traditionally gild, and used to restore antiques and frames, so I knew about handling metal leaf and the art form of gilding,” says Danni. “I was freelancing as an artist and working for a big interior commercial glass company. They asked me to join a project, which involved hand-painting some glass for a client, which was then gilded to a mirror finish, and I was shown how to mirror-gild. I was hooked. I then contacted several specialists in glass gilding and learned everything I could about the technique. It was a journey of discovery.
“I love the complexity of verre églomisé,” she continues. “Discovering it gave me so many ideas and inspired me to learn and develop more. I love getting absorbed into a piece; seeing it through from initial sketches to the final result; solving all the little complexities along the way.
“The work is a culmination of so much of me coming together: my love of nature, my skills as an illustrator and craftswoman, and also my way of thinking. I’m dyslexic, and I believe that the way I work out and solve problems – my ‘dyslexic thinking’ – adds a whole different element to the pieces.”
Illusion of motion
Danni’s work is extraordinary. A shoal of iridescent fish swim within a frame in one of her completed artworks; each individual within the group exquisitely painted and gilded in its place on the glass. Surrounded by many others, and with another layer beneath, the shadows of the fish fall across the back-board, and the varying colours catch the play of light. The whole gives a wonderful three-d
