The Story
Charted by rule,
scattered by hand
The set began with a page from a 1912 star atlas: ruled gridlines drawn in ink so fine they nearly disappear, and over them, star positions marked by hand — some clustered, some alone, none evenly spaced. That collision of instrument and hand is the whole design. The grid is ruled with a fine liner brush along a straight edge; the stars are dropped freehand and never counted.
Champagne pearl is the hardest neutral to mix well: too much shimmer and it turns frosted, too little and it goes flat beige. Ours takes three pours of pearl pigment over a warm nude base, wet-polished between coats, until the surface reads as champagne held to candlelight. The gold-leaf stars are torn rather than punched, so each point flickers at a slightly different angle.
Precision for the grid; instinct for the stars.