Studio Six Art Conservation Has A New Website

We've moved all our latest updates to a new website, and it looks fabulous. 

Here's the link www.StudioSixArtConservation.com

There's lots of new conservation projects to look at and we have expanding our scope to include cleaning and maintenance of public sculpture. 

A Royal Chair Comes Emerges From The Goat Shead

This pile of wood was found in a goat shed in Washington state. The client thought thought it might be 19th Century Chinese throne that was once installed in his childhood home but couldn't recall the last time he saw it in one piece.

Of course storing anything of value in a goat shed is probably not the best of ideas as it will likely result in damage. Fortunately, this chair is constructed of rosewood which is a quite dense and heavy wood and naturally resists rot, bug damage and warping.

Once we started the surface cleaning, we were pleasantly surprised that the wood and the finish were in such nice shape. Of course in part of that due to the wood used.

Conservation Of Reverse Painting On Glass

Reverse Painting on glass is a wonderful painting technique that creates a striking visual impact. Unfortunately a common issue with this technique is delamination and loss of the paint layer. The thin layers of paint peel up like egg shells and break off with the lightest touch.

We began by softening the paint with a light airbrushing of alcohol. This relaxes the paint so it will lay flat without cracking. All the areas of lifting paint were re-attached to the glass using acryloid B72. After curing, missing areas of paint were re-touched to match the original design using acryloid B72 and powdered pigments.

Studio Six Part Of The 2013 TAM Conference

As a member of NTAAC, Studio Six Art Conservation will be co-chairing a presentation at the 2013 Texas Association of Museums conference. The title is Non-renewable Resources: Collection Care of Natural History, Archeological, and Ethnographic Objects.

I'll be sharing the podium with Melanie Sanford from Textile Preservation Services of Texas, Deborah Cowman executive director at the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History, Amanda Vance independent consultant and object conservator, and Jenni Opalinski Collection and Exhibitions Manage at the Museum of the Southwest.

They will be addressing the best care, handling and storage of objects that fall in the fields of natural science, archeology and ethnographic. Each has a log history of study and experience, so the presentation should have lots of useful information.

TAM Along The River Walk

The Conservation Roundtable session at 2012 TAM Conference in San Antonio played to a full house. It started with a short powerpoint presentation on what art conservers do, then, with the room set up with five tables with one art conservator at each table the session turned into a movable feast of questions and conservation advice.

When the final bell range ending the session few people were ready to leave, lingering to ask more questions and collect business cards. Over all I would say if was one of the most active and well received sessions at this years conference.

Perhaps, NTAAC will host it again next year when TAM meets in Waco.

Studio Six Part of a Conservation Roundtable

The Texas Association of Museum (TAM) conference starts on Tuesday. This year the 5 day conference is being held down by the River Walk in San Antonio.

Studio Six will be part of the NTAAC session Conservation Roundtable. There will be 5 art conservators sitting at 5 roundtables. Each conservator will be addressing questions that pertains to their field of expertise:

Paper- Tish Brewer - the Center for Art Conservation, Dallas TX
Paintings- Anne Zanikos - Anne Zanikos Art Conservation, San Antonio TX
Textiles- Melanie Sanford - Textile Preservation Services of Texas, Dallas TX
Photographs- Corinne Dune - DBA Photogragh and Paper Conservation Services, San Marcos TX
Furniture- Brad Ford Smith - Studio Six Art Conservation, Dallas TX

Very excited to be on the panel with this group of art conservators.

TEDxSMU Auditions

On October 11th I'll be giving a short 3 minute presentation: What People Reach For When Things Fall Apart. 

Its part of the TEDxSMU auditions, a chance to be part of the longer presentation/program in December, that's why it's only 3 minutes long. Each of the 13 presenters will have to boil down a 20 minute lecture into a short, concise teaser. Pretty hard when you love talking about your topic.

I'll be talking about how art conservators get a unique opportunity to see how people solve problems. There will be images of duct tape wrapped legs, Candle sticks tied up in red ribbon, pools of glue and of course lots of things nails but not really together.

I asked several members of the North Texas Association for Art Conservation (NTAAC) for photos to include in this presentation. Thanks Melanie at Textile Preservation Services of Texas, Tish at the Center for Art Conservation, and Cher at Art Restorations Inc, your contributions are wonderful.

The event is open to the public. You will help select who goes on to present in December.
More info and tickets click HERE

North Texas Association for Art Conservation NTAAC

What do you get when you stuff a bunch of art conservators into a freight elevator? The first official meeting of the North Texas Association for Art Conservation (NTAAC).

Actually there has been an unofficial group of art conservators enjoying monthly lunches for a few years now. Melanie Sanford (second from the right) brought up the topic of formally organizing the group, that sparked the birth of NTAAC.

NTAAC is still in the  early stages, no website, blog or Face Book page yet. Some of the topics that NTAAC is focusing on are: Brings together art conservators in North Texas for open discussions on issues pertaining to art conservation, Building a strong community network that can be accessed for emergency response to natural disasters such as floods and fires, and Coordinating community workshops on art conservation.

Thanks to John Campbell (4th head from the left), his conservation staff (left elbow, and 3rd from the right), and the Nasher Sculpture Center for hosting the August NTAAC lunch.