Creating ‘Endangered’ - Verre Églomisé Asiatic Cheetah

This endangered Asiatic Cheetah’s face has been created using the endangered craft of verre églomisé, the art of gilding and painting on the reverse of glass. Like the cheetah, this craft has now become so rare it is threatened to become lost completely. Over 12 weeks, focusing on the cheetah’s face, I captured the striking gleam in the eyes using mirror-finished tones of gold and copper. Fur was slowly built up in stages of both water gilded and oil gilded layers of golds and white gold. This piece is a tribute to both an almost extinct species and a rare craft.