@Erica McPhee and
@jeanwilson When I replied in February, I'd been mortified to have taken three weeks to reply. But I'm not sure there's a word that expresses how embarrassed I am to have taken several months this time. I'm so sorry to you both, and especially after I'd promised I wouldn't take so long next time. It's been a hectic, occasionally nightmarish, few months but I'm pleased to say that things are much better now.
I just wanted to let you know that, excitingly, I think my illumination problems are sorted!
Just after we spoke, I'd chanced upon an upcoming online illumination class. I wondered if seeing the process demonstrated from start to finish may be a good place to start before speaking with Jerry Tresser.
I counted down the weeks to it, and honestly, it was one of the most enjoyable and helpful things I've ever done. Within the first hour of the first session, the teacher had covered all of the things I'd been struggling with and explained ways to avoid or mitigate them. And I learnt such a lot about the technique required for applying PVA from watching the teacher demonstrate. I could see lots of things I'd been doing incorrectly or could improve upon.
But as it turns out, there'd been something else going on, unfortunately. I really don't like to blame my tools – if there's a problem, it's almost certainly caused by me! But I think my PVA may have been responsible for many of the problems I'd been having.
The teacher supplied a small bottle of ready-prepared PVA for the classes, and fortunately, the problems I'd had when working by myself mostly didn't occur. Afterwards, though, I returned to the Lineco PVA I'd diluted earlier this year and was astonished by how watery it was. I tried to add more PVA to bring it up to the consistency we'd used in the class, but still without success. I therefore ordered the brand of PVA that the teacher had recommended and, touch wood, I've had no problems with grooves forming since. (Incidentally, the recommended PVA was still tacky a day or two later, even before breathing on it – the Lineco simply formed hard blobs on the paper that were barely tacky at all. Maybe it was a bottle that had gone bad?)
It’s been a huge thrill (not to mention relief!) to be able to apply gold leaf to a smooth surface and have it remain in place. I can't wait to keep going. There's lots more practice needed but each mistake is teaching me something new.
Thank you both again for your help, and my sincerest apologies for how long it's taken me to update you.