Francisco Gonzalez Calleja, known to many as Fran, gets ready to speak to me, in spite of the hot Spanish weather. His eyes glisten, not from the warmth, but with the quiet fire of someone deeply in love with his craft. Before he even begins to answer the questions, sent ahead to help guide our conversation, he’s already eager to make one thing clear: being an artisan is not merely about mastering a technique; it’s about passion.
We are joined by his wife, Lula, an art historian, his unwavering muse, his anchor, and constant source of encouragement. It was through her that he discovered his love for clay and gold, for shaping earth and illuminating it. Around them, his works gleam in the soft spill of sunlight through the windows.
Francisco González Calleja is a ceramist and contemporary gilder whose practice bridges traditional craftsmanship and innovative technique. With over four decades of experience, his work reflects an ongoing dialogue between material, process, and inspiration. His primary gilding method, used around 80% of the time, is water gilding, which he chooses for its lower toxicity and sustainability, especially when working indoors.
“In the winter, you can’t always open windows for proper ventilation,” he explains. “Water-based mixtion is safer to use and more comfortable over long periods.”
Mixtion, the adhesive used in gilding, can be either oil or water-based. While both offer similar technical results, Francisco notes that the drying time and finish vary, and ultimately, the choice depends on the intended outcome. Water gilding, in particular, works better on shiny surfaces such as ceramics, glass, plastics, or soft enamel. However, the process is rarely linear. He often finds himself repeating steps multiple times, especially when working with textured surfaces.
“Sometimes I redo a surface seven times. Sometimes I have to leave it for months and come back to it. That’s part of the process.”
A maker by nature
Francisco describes himself as someone who constantly needs to work with his hands, not just in the studio, but in all aspects of life. He cooks, grows vegetables, bakes bread, and surrounds himself with tactile experiences. His creative process is exploratory and nonlinear. He rarely begins with a single idea; instead, he describes it as a “cloud of ideas”that evolve through experimentation. “I find 10 different ways to approach a problem. I test them all. Most of the time, they work, I’ve been lucky that way.”
When he finds himself limited by the cost of materials like gold or silver, he turns to alternatives such as aluminum, and approaches each new medium by first investigating its technical compatibility. For structural needs, he uses epoxy to combine aluminum with glass or ceramics. His work often takes shape through trial and error, a process he links to planting seeds in a garden and waiting patiently for them to bear fruit.
Historical roots and cultural layers
Much of Francisco’s work draws inspiration from archaeological artifacts and ancient cultures. Whether it’s the Greeks, Etruscans, Phoenicians, Romans, or the rich hybrid culture of the Moors in Spain, his fascination lies not just in the forms and techniques of the past, but in the emotional resonance they carry. This emotional depth informs not only his ceramics and gilded objects but also his evolving work in jewellery design.
The transition into jewellery came from a simple question he and Lula would often ask: How did people first begin to wear decorative objects?
This curiosity led him to prehistoric origins, and gradually, toward experimenting with new materials and forms.
Japanese influence and textile gilding
Francisco’s early ceramic practice was strongly shaped by traditional Japanese techniques. He studied not only the aesthetic traditions but also the Japanese language and culture. One of the techniques that captured his imagination involved the use of extremely thin, lacquered threads of gold leaf on paper, once used to embroider textiles like kimonos. He now incorporates this delicate, nearly lost art into his jewellery-making process. “The technique creates a contrast, like a subtle brocade, unlike anything in traditional Western jewellery.”
These strands of gold can be twisted into flexible pieces for necklaces, belts, or bracelets. These materials are both fragile and strong, allowing Francisco to explore wearable forms that blur the line between adornment and sculpture.
The importance of contrast
Francisco is especially drawn to the imperfect and aged surfaces of classical frescoes and ancient murals. “From a distance, they’re beautiful,” he says, “but up close, the cracks, the faded pigments, the textures is where the story is.” These textures become a conceptual tool in his own work, layered over the more controlled, reflective qualities of gold.
He references Mark Rothko’s soft colour fields as a modern complement to the physicality of classical walls. For Francisco, the idea of ‘contemporary’ is less about style and more about freedom.
“Contemporary means expressing the artisan’s experience, not just the technique, but the soul of it.”
The joy of mistakes
Challenges, for Francisco, are not setbacks, they are indicators of progress. He believes that failure is often a sign that you are pushing past your limits and discovering new ground. “Not being confident is where the treasures are. That’s where new ideas live.”
He shares that some of his favorite pieces were once discarded or unfinished. After stepping away from them, he would return with fresh eyes and see value where there was once doubt. This willingness to embrace the imperfect and unexpected is part of what makes his work so alive.
While Francisco’s process begins in solitude, the final outcome often lives in collaboration. His gilded pieces; whether ceramics, textiles, or jewellery, frequently find their place within larger design projects, in partnership with fashion designers, architects or interior designers.
“I make materials and ideas, but they need to be useful to someone else, to fit into a space, a story, a life. That’s where real collaboration happens.”
One of his current works-in-progress, which is a gilded mural that he refers to as a tapestry, sits quietly behind him. It’s made of gold leaf on textiles, and he speaks of it with the same reverence he uses for his jewellery.
“Jewellery gives magic to a person. This tapestry gives magic to the room.”
Even in darkness, he says, the metal catches the faintest traces of light, creating the illusion that it glows from within. “That’s the magic of the material. You don’t always need light – the metal remembers.”
Chiarra Gianina Fernandes
