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A customer has brought in a pastel portrait on a thin, "flock-coated" paper that they purchased abroad. They rolled it to bring it home, and now it's creased.
I would welcome any advice on how I might mitigate the effects of the creasing.
Thanks in anticipation!
........Áine JGF SGF FTB .Briseann an dúchas trí shuiligh an chuit.
Is the crease in an impossible to mount over area?
If it's a nice sharp crease then even if you could make it perfectly flat you'd probably end up with a just as prominent line in the pigment.
One for a conservator - but if it's a touristy thing then I doubt they'd want to pay for one.
Even if it was a poster - a crease in paper is a crease in paper.
I would put greasproof paper over it and plonk it in a plan chest with a couple of pieces of glass on top for a week - if it's survived rolling I'm guessing it has been well fixed and/or the 'flock' has enough 'tooth' to not require a fixative, or much.
Thanks for the speedy reply, John! Don't think they'd want to go as far as a conservator for this one.
The pigment area isn't too bad: the creases are more obvious in the "bare areas." The creases are relatively light, btw, but when it would be under the mount, it would look cockled from day one. I have used the "under glass" technique for flattening before, but I was very nervous of trying it on a pastel. I'll give it a go!
........Áine JGF SGF FTB .Briseann an dúchas trí shuiligh an chuit.
I've never done it, but having had the same problem myself, Pete Bingham did mention to me that it is possible (just possible) in some situations where there is no other way, to dry mount a pastel. Takes guts to even think about it!
I never had the nerve to try it! I took the easy way out, I laid it face down onto silicone release paper, sprayed the back with a very fine mist of water using an airbrush (well worth having one), placed another sheet of Silicone release paper over the back and placed it between two sheets of glass overnight.
In the morning I removed the rear release paper and replaced it with a sheet of blotting paper to help it dry out. I got away with it, it looked just fine!
Which ever way you look at it, there are risks. So get your customer involved before you do it!
I usually tell the customer that the cockles are part of the history of the piece, give it a bit of character, etc.
I also tell them that, hinged from the top, the paper will naturally flatten over time under its own weight.
If they insist on flattening, I have found that, while the above method will make some improvement, to your eye, it may not be enough to satisfy your customer. In these circumstances, and only at their insistance, I have ended up drymounting.
Greasproof paper (or silicone release paper) and weights are fine - just don't drag anything across it.
I wouldn't even put this in a press that was not turned on and nor would I want to risk 'getting away' with it. That just comes under experimenting on someone else's stuff.
I'd just admit that I was not qualified to do what needs to be done to get the best result - tell them what I could do and then ask them if it ended up looking just the same would they still want it framed.
If it were mine I'd artcare restore it and it would probably be fine.
Roboframer wrote:nor would I want to risk 'getting away' with it. That just comes under experimenting on someone else's stuff.
Customer was fully brief and agreed before hand. The creasing in this case was quite nasty, it had been rolled in a tube and then the tube had been dented. It was not replaceable and the customer was very pleased with the result. I always discuss anything like this with the customer and never would do otherwise.
Regarding "getting away away with it", the creases were very hard to discern at all and there was no obvious loss of pigment, even though the was some lose pigment in the cardboard tube.
Yes, I did get away with it - You can never be sure until it's finished, how it will turn out. After all lurking in the back of your mind, there's always the "unexpected" which can never be completely ruled out.
I just hate dry/wet mounting or any sort of modification to what is put in front of me. Regards paper that is - we'll wash and press needlework - and if we can't - we have a dry cleaning agency! (not that they'd dry clean needlework - they also do laundry and loads of stuff by hand)
Last week a customer unrolled a large photo out of its tube and was ever so dissapointed - it was very 'wavy' but there were also 'dinks' I said I could get rid of the waviness and this type of thing is a priome candidate for drymounting anyway - but I couldn't guarantee the dinks.
It came out perfick - uncannily flat. I just love artcare restore!
Some stuff I just wouldn't attempt though and creased pastels definitely come under that.
I've already advised the customer that it is a tricky situation, and that I would be seeking advice from you good people and then consulting them before proceeding with any remedial work!
Like the term "dink" btw: perfect technical term! I shall be "borrowing" that one!
........Áine JGF SGF FTB .Briseann an dúchas trí shuiligh an chuit.
.Briseann an dúchas trí shuiligh an chuit.
