Kerbel Design

I blame the edibles I was happily snacking away on (byeeee cramps) for forgetting to post this yesterday. On the drawing board: Currently re-working the illustrations for this cannabis-infused skincare brand identity I designed a few years ago.

Need unique art for a unique space? Have you thought about adding a gilded glass piece to the collection? Something people don't always realize is that the gold on this water gilded piece is reflective like a mirror (why I often refer to it as a "mirror finish") which makes for a pretty cool effect that you can't achieve with gold leaf in other mediums.

Dropping in to say Hi! to a whole bunch of new followers! I’m Lauren, a sign painter (and occasional stationary designer) based in Toronto. I work with business owners, art consultants and interior designers to help put the finishing touches on stylish commercial and residential spaces. How? By adding gilded and hand-painted signs to windows, creating custom glass art pieces, painting elegant, eye-catching murals, and much more. If you’ve recently started followi...ng, welcome! And if you’ve been here for a while, thanks for sticking around so farevery like, save, share and comment really means so much to me (because honestly, keeping things up to date on Instagram takes WORK). Thank you for the support! Photo by @bsimkova See more

If your vision includes a storefront with a vintage vibe, a hand-made gilded sign is the perfect way to complete the look. I know I talk a lot about glass gilding here, but gold leaf can also be applied to other substrates to create beautiful signsjust look at the gilded sign above this shop’s windows (although the gold on the windows is pretty smashing too). If you’re designing a storefront or space in Toronto that needs new signage, email me at [email protected] for a quote for hand-painting and gilding. Photo by @danieltriassi

A pic of the glass gilding process: I’m using a special backup painta very durable, quick-drying paintto keep the gold leaf on the glass where I want it. Once it’s dried, I’ll clean off all of the excess gold around it, leaving the gold trapped under the paint visible from the front (gilded glass signs are mostly painted on the back of glass). And before you ask, the stick I’m holding is called a mahal stick. I use it as a steady place to rest my hands while painting without touching my work. I got this cool one from @ashandover when I was @portoletterheads.

The beginnings of a sample for a distressed/aged looking sample piece. And that’s the most interesting caption I can come up with for this because I’m honestly starting to feel a little burnt out with Instagram. Between coming up with content, taking and editing photos and trying to keep up with the constantly changing algorithms it doesn’t feel like @instagram is the helpful tool for small businesses that it once was. Anyone else feeling this way? How are you dealing with @instagram burnout?

If shadows and reflections like this don’t convince you to consider gilding for your windows, I don’t know what will.

When I painted and gilded the bottle shop door @Avlingto in 2019, we had no idea how important the shop space would become once a pandemic hit. Whether it’s a permanent sign on a door or window, or temporary window splashes, hand-painted signs quickly and easily let people know how they can shop with you. Photo courtesy of @AvlingTO

The style of @louisvuitton is constantly evolving, but if this luxury house ever wanted to pay homage to the brand's history, hand-painted and gilded signs on boutique windows would be a beautiful way to evoke that vintage Parisian style. I took inspiration from an old advert I found online for this practice piece, but now I can't bring myself to remove the gold to start a new one. It might just end up being framed and added to my growing personal collection of gilded glass pieces.

It would be really embarrassing if I’d accidentally drawn this backwards, but in this case it’s actually intentional. This is a pounce pattern for a reverse glass gild which involves painting the number backwards on the back of the glass, so its the right way around on the front. The pounce wheel creates small holes in the paper to allow a fine powder to pass through, transferring my pattern onto whatever I’m working on.

How to style your hand-painted gilded glass artwork: 1) Find a shelf, or a wall, or a corner 2) Put your framed pieces there 3) Place some cute items beside them 4) Stand back and admire your new, locally-made art collection... Disclaimer: I am not an interior designer. I am basing this advice solely on my own home. Always consult your interior designer or design-minded friends before making art styling choices in your home. Or don't, because it's your space and you can style it however you choose. See more

Even simple block lettering* has more character and personality when it’s drawn by hand. *a.k.a. Sans-serif or Gothic.

There are a lot of ways we can make gold signage stand out on windows (3D effects, painted outlines and shadows are popular), but sometimes pure gold lettering is the most elegant option. A brand like @Cartier likely has pretty precise brand guidelines, so I would combine screen-printing with gilding for the cleanest results, but I loved the challenge of doing this delicate logo and classic script by hand. 24 karat pure gold leaf would be an ideal choice for this luxury jewellery brand, but I only had 23 karat on hand for this sample.