Ok, that sounds a little more exciting than it actually is. There is no end in sight at this point for the painting itself, but I am wrapping a few things up. To be specific, I am all done ironing the crap out of the painting and lining ...
Ok, that sounds a little more exciting than it actually is. There is no end in sight at this point for the painting itself, but I am wrapping a few things up. To be specific, I am all done ironing the crap out of the painting and lining and am ready to attach the newly lined canvas to the bars. So, while I was out this afternoon I decided to buy a new set of stretcher bars*. This was a long waffled over decision, since I am trying to keep all the original parts of the painting and frame intact, getting new bars was kind of like mixing old and new wine skins or something. The new bars were only $7 though, so it wasn't really a big deal. {I can always go back to using the splintery, cracked, nail bitten, and skewed original stretcher.}
I feel like if the word 'stretch' is in this post one more time, in any form, I will explode.
Back to what I was trying to get at in the first place, I am ready to move on past the lining phase of this whole project. There are mistakes and imperfections in what I have done so far, but I am ok with that. Overall, the painting is in better shape than when I started on it about a year ago. The holes are mended, the grime is significantly reduced, and structurally the canvas is more sound. There are a few places where the beeswax and damar compound just didn't want to create a good bond between the two canvases, but I think I can spot repair them while I am cleaning and mending losses.
This whole process is partly stressful, because I don't want to ruin anything, and partly fun, because I am learning about something new. I will never get a chemistry/art history phd, so I am out of the running for any serious conservation work, and actually, that is a relief. I cannot imagine having Eli Wilner breathing down my neck as I work on some civil war era military portrait for Martha Stewart and accidentally spilling my red bull all over the project. Yikes! I am not into high level pressure. {hello blogging!} So, if I ruin this odd paring of art and frame, so be it. At least it won't have taken YEARS OF MY LIFE. {oops!}
$7 and a free coffee later, I am ready to put this canvas to rest on it's new home. 22" x 36" of totally ridiculous labor. 792 square inches of Oregon swamp at it's finest, painted by some european dude a hundred years ago. {hello mental illness?}
Researching Earle Bergey, Alice
*a nerd note on the stretcher bars: the rounded lip on the edge of the new bars will help the canvas's surface tension and appearance, as opposed to the old one that had sharp corners, cutting into the fabric, and causing it to tear.
**second nerd note: the pins around the edge of the temporary stretcher in the picture are there because I was testing out this method, while trying to relax some of the wrinkles still in my painting. It helped a little, and after using the pins, just pulling the canvas tight with my hands, I am confident that using the stretching pliers and canvas tacks will do a better job at smoothing out the painting {as much as it ever will, at least}.
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