I’ve just finished a quartz piece titled “New Horizon.” It has a horizontal design and features hand-painted old-english-style lettering around the dial. Some very tiny brushes, a magnifying visor and a lot of patience were required to paint the lettering on this one.
It’s worth noting that the paper I used is particularly challenging to paint on. It’s a type of rice paper called kitkata, and it’s made for printmaking, not painting. It has a soft, almost fuzzy surface texture, which makes it difficult to brush a nice crisp line. However, that quality is also why I love it. The soft surface looks beautiful, and I like the contrasts against the hard metal. It also takes the weathering process well. To get that aged look, I drench the face of the clock in water and rough it up with a hard bristled toothbrush. Most paper would disintegrate, but the longer fibers of kitikata just stretch and fray, giving me the control to make the weathered edge look the way I want.
I’m very happy with this piece. The overall design is one of my favorites to date, and I’m especially happy with the way the dial turned out.
This clock measures 36” wide. The body is hand-carved brass, and the dial is acrylic and oil on kitkata rice paper.
“New Horizon” is available for $7,200. If you’re interested, contact me. This is currently the only quartz clock I have for sale.
