It's real quick to say painting ...

It is not just grabbing a paint-brush in your hand and passing it over a wooden figure. Any decoration holds its refined rules at most.

Lots is depending from the selection of the kind of wood. Same, from the color type as well: oil, water or just mordant? Overall, significant will be a firm hand, particularly when it comes to perfect the small details with a super narrow paint-brush, the tiny textures, all this to donate a unique look to the piece of art.

Sonia Demetz cambia colore statua - neue Farbe für die Statue - new color for the figurine — Sonia Demetz cambia colore statua – neue Farbe für die Statue – new color for the figurine

Considering that the tradition of wood carving in Val Gardena goes back to its roots in 1600, the painting came up about 100 years later, only. In fact at the beginning, the larger figures and altars become painted in nearby towns of Castelrotto, Funes, Bolzano or Bressanone and sometimes even in the far Bavaria region; this because at that times in our valley nobody was acquainted with such painting skills. Only at the end of the 1700s some families thought that they should be learning any painting by themselves. Thus, all the community, even the children, could work out of home by painting their own made creations. That’s how in Val Gardena the painting and gilding brought an additional value of art work, on top of the renowned wood sculpting.

The very first color decorators were men, but later, particularly for small figures and toys, painting become a women’s task, in fact for many women in the valley. Thereof the latter could work out of home, which was most relevant to this traditionally agriculture community: in fact, women contributed to support the family, while at once these were taking care of the household.

Sonia Demetz pittura - Malerei - painting — Sonia Demetz pittura – Malerei – painting

Sonia Demetz, Malen, Vergolden, Gold – pitturare, d‘orare, oro – painting, gold plate,

The four phases of the painting

1. Lacquering

First, the raw figure becomes base-lacquered to protect the wood in order not to absorb too much color. There are three different treatments that are done by both, by hand and by spraying.

2. Color

When it comes to color, it’s not simply in one-go. Sonia uses about 60 different paint-brushes to do any single figure: beside the thickness, the single paint-brushes are selected for different colors applications, for different shades. There are many reds, many greens, many blues and so on. Once you have applied the colors, then to highlight its shading level, gently caress the statue with a cloth, thus binding the nuances among each other.

3. Fixing the colors

To fix the color, the figure is treated with an additional coating.

4. Gilding

If any gilded parts apply as well, then this is the tight time to do the gilding: a highly refined process, using super-thin real golden sheets. At the same time any and all small details will be completed as well, those tiny textures which require experienced focus, the eyes, flowers on dresses, or other designs that adorn and enrich any unique figure.

A last step is required to lend consistency to this art process. A patina gets spread over to donate harmony and balance to all colors.