Lots of Projects

One of my brothers is moving, and is no longer planning to do restoration work, so I was offered the unfinished projects from his cellar. I will either have a busy winter (or more likely, will have just effected a transition of unfinished projects from one cellar to another).

Will post if/when any of these get worked on.

Round-corner Frame

Very often I get frames that are not worth putting a lot of work into, but they often serve as illustrations of what happens to frames over the years. A friend gave me some frames from her garage, including this 19th century round-corner example. It had a bad break, and was covered in "radiator" paint. I clamped and glued the break just to keep it from creating more damage, and since I noticed glints of gold, decided to take a quick stripping attempt, using methylene-chloride based paint stripper. I found the original silver-gilt ("lemon gold") underneath (as shown in the top photo), although it was worn (probably the reason why it was painted).

If I ever have use for this frame, I will consider making a proper repair to the broken area.

Vermont

Yes, it's that time of year when we all head north to view the foliage. I normally would not dare do this on a holiday weekend, but there was something scheduled for me up there.

I didn't get to take that many pictures, being tied up during the day, and not daring to stop the car with so much traffic. But here are a few shots. Actually taking more in our own neck of the woods, and as usual around here, the best foliage also coincides with rain and wind that seem to take it right down.

Gilding Demo in Vermont

I went to Brandon, Vermont during the Columbus Day weekend to demonstrate water gilding at the Pioneer chapter of HSEAD (Historical Society of Early American Decoration).

The van was loaded with samples to show various gilding techniques and finishes, I didn't forget to bring anything, and a good time was had by all.

For more about HSEAD, go to http://www.hsead.org/