Paul Monfredo began learning the technique of water gilding more than twenty-five years ago. It is an ancient technique using the same materials and methods today as hundreds of years ago. First the wooden structure of the frame is built and carved, if required. Then gesso, which is made from animal skin glue and whiting (ground chalk), is gradually applied, producing a hard, evenly smooth layer. Red, black, blue, or yellow clay or bole is painted on the smoothed gesso surface. 23kt gold leaf is then applied with a gilder’s tip, a thin, flat brush. The gold may then be burnished with an agate stone, or rubbed and antiqued, depending on the desired finish. If the frame is to be painted, Nancy will have incised the design into the gesso surface before it is gilded. After the gilding process is complete, the egg tempera is painted on in many layers, one color over another, each layer adding to the next.