Two ancient iconography techniques
Repouse is a French word which means to push. The silver Repouse on our contemporary icons are 100% hand tooled pewter. My husband, Valentin and partner designs the reliefs by pushing the metal, embossing one side and flattening the other simultaneously. When he finishes all the perfils and curlicues, one side is flat with the other side pushed out in a pattern. The back of each repouse adornment is filled with a paste filler, to prevent the embossing from getting dented. The second ancient iconography technique is egg tempera painting. Our work has been sealed with wax or various layers of emulsion. The wax or egg mediums cover the image, permeating the earth pigments to hold them in place for millenniums to come. All our work is archival; we use the finest materials to bring about the richest quality icon; fine earth pigment, organic gesso, 23kt Gold on board.
How to learn the technique for Repouse.
EMBOSSING METAL: How to Book available on Lulu self publishing.