Yesterday I met a woman in our local library branch who bought this pastel from me last year and had it framed. She asked me to come by and see how it looks framed and to evaluate an area where the pastel seems to have blurred and wondered if I could fix it.
The frame looks very good with the piece and is a nice professional job, which means the backing is sealed - tight! I really am not very concerned with this slight blurring that appears on the lower edge of the hands but it really bothers the owner of the piece so I will see what I can do and give an update on how it goes. It will mean breaking that sealed backing and then I don't know what I'll find, how the framer has attached the paper to the mount, etc. I just hope it doesn't turn into a real problem. At least this lady understands that she may have to return to the framer to have it sealed up again, and she will pay me to make this correction since it wasn't my doing. I didn't spray fix the piece - I hardly ever use spray fix as I find that on occasion it can blob and blotch and even change the colour of the pigments a bit. I will see what I can do and hope nothing gets ruined. I have some Fixatif Latour by Sennelier, which I haven't tried yet, so this may be a good time to do so. It is non aerosol, designed specifically for pastels and needs to be applied in several thin coats. It is supposed to be non-yellowing synthetic resin. Better do this outdoors also. Spray fixes are toxic. Keeping my fingers crossed that this turns out well.
Wow, you have a daunting task ahead of you I dare say. I always wondered if people ever came back to the artist like that to fix things or just said, as I would, "Oh well."
ReplyDeleteI don't like to bother people, I guess. I figure there are no guarantees that what you do to it after you buy it won't harm it but I suppose you have to fix something if asked unless it is out of your area of expertise. Good luck.
It's a lovely painting. What is the title of it, and what kind of exquisite bird is the woman holding?
ReplyDeleteOh yes indeed...I would guess the smearing happened during the framing process! If you can't fix it, maybe she can have the original framers remunerate her for the damages.
ReplyDeleteI think the painting looks better with the blurred effect because it gives the girl a rather ethereal look and matches the feather! I wonder if you could show the customer the comments you get and see if she doesn't change her mind.
ReplyDeletevery detailed and nice artwork! very impressive! :)
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