I work on oil paintings, acrylic and mixed media on any supporting material (eg canvas, board, wooden panel, metal panel) from all periods from old master through to contemporary. As a specialist, I do not restore watercolours but refer clients to paper conservators.
Yes, certainly. I will do a simple clean through to complex projects. For example, I have removed a felt-tipped moustache applied by students on a portrait, repaired paintings with bullet holes in them and paintings where someone has put a foot through and also a dog jumped through!
NO! In essence I retouch the painting only where the paint is missing or worn, avoiding interfering with the original work of the artist. Re-touching is painstaking and time consuming using fine sable brushes working on small areas at a time ensuring a perfect colour match. I follow ethical restoration standards of minimal intervention and reversibility.
Anything I apply to the painting may be safely removed by future restorers if required.
Normally the majority of the work takes place in my purpose-built studio where I have all the facilities available including good natural daylight. However, work out on site may be undertaken where and when necessary.
This involves the conservation and restoration of the painting’s supporting material. For example, canvas, panel, board etc. In some cases these may have deteriorated due to damp or dry environments or impact damage. It may be a canvas that has become too weak to hold the paint on its original plane or has been torn. These may be held with a supporting canvas in a process called, ‘lining’. A split panel may be repaired or a warped panel straightened. Paint that has become loose and flaking may be consolidated or reattached.