David Smith is a man out of time, making Victorian-era glass signs in Torquay, Devon, UK, using painstaking processes that I'd have guessed were lost to time. Using gold leaf, silvering, frosting, and extraordinary hand lettering and ornamentation, Smith designs and creates beautiful signs that make me overjoyed to learn they're still being done today.
His website has lots of examples, as well as step-by-step descriptions of projects. His focus is on the arcane methods of glass embossing and decoration, but it seems he could give a master class in lettering alone. As a former calligrapher, I find his design work astonishing -- and that's well before all the precise work it takes to commit it to glass!
Below is a 14-minute film showing the artist at work. I would have preferred to see more of the craft behind the signs, especially the lettering, but the methods we do see are still quite satisfying. If I ever get to Devon, I intend to stop at the Clocktower bar in Torquay, where Smith is seen having a pint and painting one of many glass signs kept by the owner.
