Joseph Rice is the owner of Fort Hill Studios and Joseph Rice Antiques. He has dealt in antiques since the early 1970s, and has sold at shows as well as shops in Maine. His gilding, restoration and frame work is a natural complement to the antiques business. An aptitude for decorative arts and restoration began at an early age, certainly due to a creative and artistic mother and a father with extensive repair capabilities. He received a degree in art from Anna Maria College in 1978.

His interest in gilding began when he discovered Isabel O'Neil's "The Art of the Painted Finish" in the local library, and was fascinated by the chapters on gilding. He began experimenting on his own, and later attended classes at The Finishing School in New York, under Ina Brosseau Marx and Allan Marx.

In 1998 Joseph began taking gilding and restoration classes with Nancy Dick, at the Eliot School in Jamaica Plain. Through several years of classes there, combined with other gilding classes through the Society of Gilders and others, Joseph has learned a wide variety of gilding and restoration techniques.

A decorative painting class led him to the Historical Society for Early American Decoration (HSEAD), where he learned traditional early American painting and decorative techniques. He developed his skills in this field of decorative art by studying under HSEAD teachers in such areas as stenciling, country painting, reverse glass painting and eglomise (gold leaf under glass).

Joseph is a former board member of the Society of Gilders, and was active for many years with HSEAD, where he has demonstrated and taught gilding. Involvement in these different, yet related areas have increased his design vocabulary, and he is able to combine gilding with additional decorative techniques on the same piece, resulting in a richer and more interesting final product.

By extensive travel to museums and historic houses, he continues to develop his sensitivity to different aspects of art, framing, furniture and other objects. This visual knowledge allows him to both restore historic objects, produce new items with historical accuracy, as well as to creatively interpret historic decorative themes and techniques when appropriate.

You can send him email at joseph@forthillstudios.com