We Love: Bland Design’s Hand Painted Gold Foil Murals
27 Aug 2021
Daniel Bland (of Bland Design), is an artist who specialises in hand painted, gold foil murals. The results are absolutely breath taking! So, we were delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Daniel to find out more about his career and inspiration behind his pieces…
Have you always been creative and can you tell us a bit about your journey to becoming an artist?
I always wanted to be an artist but my ‘sensible’ head always told me that is impossible to make into a paying career, so once I left school I went straight into retail and kept my artwork as a hobby. It wasn’t until I started my Instagram account @bland_design and posted photos of my home and decor that found my audience and it gave me the confidence to try and turn it into a business.
Why did you decide to specialise in gilding?
I ended up specialising in gilding by accident really. I was desperate to give my kitchen a face lift but couldn’t afford a new one, so working with what I had already I decided to use gold leaf and resin to create the brass worktops I’d been swooning over. When I posted about it online I started getting inquiries about bespoke worktops and tables which was amazing because I hadn’t planned for it to be a product I’d sell.
Your murals are such grand and striking pieces of art, do you ever feel daunted by the challenge when you start a project?
I’m always nervous when designing a new mural, it’s only once I actually start painting that I finally relax and get into it. I work with a rage of different artistic styles and designs which is really challenging, I end up doing dozens of rough sketches that go in the bin before I start to feel happy with my designs. Some of my work is freehand drawing as well, which has its own challenges when working on a large scale, having to keep stepping back to check it all looks right!
Your work was debuted on the final of Interior Design Masters, where you were commissioned by Siobhan Murphy to create a gorgeous, gilded crane mural. Can you tell us a bit more about that experience?
Siobhan has become a great friend of mine and I was honoured to be asked to paint a mural for the final of the show. It came totally out of the blue because they only get a week to plan their schemes so I had to reshuffle some of my work to be able to do it but I’m so glad I did. It was easily the most terrifying thing I’ve done in my career so far, I’m used to filming my work for Instagram but that’s just me and my camera… Not an entire production team! We only had 3 days to complete the project which was tough, not only did I paint the mural but I also gilded the vaulted ceiling in the hallway of the villa. Since then Siobhan and I have worked on a bunch of other projects in her home, and plenty more to come!
It’s incredible to think that Daniel’s journey began with a kitchen tabletop, some gold leaf, a pot of resin and a large dose of creativity! We’re delighted to hear he has more work in the pipeline with Siobhan. We can’t wait to see the results from this fabulous duo!
If you would like to find out more about Daniel’s stunning work (and seriously impressive plant collection!) You can find him on Instagram, or contact him via his website, Bland Design.
Image Credit: Daniel Bland
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