Flakes of gold leaf snowed through the air, twirling upward and falling, and grabbing at any surface as they fell. A few airborne specks found the forehead of the small man who brushed the leaf on to a window to make a sign for a NoLIta boutique called Sissy. The gold leaf that didn't break away reached toward the dampened pane and expanded on the glass as if in deep exhale. "Gold leaf jump on this, from this spot to this area," said the man, Jerry Pagane, who was seemingly unaware of the gold on his brow. "It jump. That's the nature."

* nyt > michelle o'donnell: glass for the canvas and gold on the brush * a canvas of glass