Restorations

Need some restorative work done on your pastel or water color painting? Why not let us bring your collectors piece back to life? Example is from an acclaimed New Zealand artist James Alexander Bond.

My restoration of this historic pastel painting of Otira Gorge, by James Alexander (J A) Bond, is complete. It’s approximately 100 years old, but could be more than 130 years. I was asked to restore it by a local who didn’t want to pay a conservator, to do my best by this beautiful painting.

It had foxing (spotty appearance on the surface), insect damage, multiple tears and quite severe damage to the surface in areas where the paper had become very fragile. It had been bent badly and crinkled where the painting had lifted from the cardboard it had been mounted to.

My first job was to remove the cardboard from the back of the painting, which was slow, painstaking work.

I used Japanese gummed mulberry paper to repair the tears and insect damage on the back of the painting, and then as hinges to attach the painting to conservation board.

I filled the insect holes and repaired the surface damage with Art Spectrum transparent Colourfix primer.

I then covered the repairs and spots with pure pigment pastels, using a silicone colour shaper for most of the work, especially the most fragile areas.

If you would like to learn about the artist and adventurer James Alexander Bond, here’s an interesting article. https://outofplace.co.nz/james-alexander-j-a-bond-1870-1940-artist-adventurer-sportsman/