Cheers

Support for this video comes from Skillshare, which offers thousands of inspiring classes for creative and curious people on topics including illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing, and more. Every now and again, an item that is clearly not a painting arrives at the studio in need of attention and care. And while this polychrome of St. Arnold certainly isn't a work on canvas, and couldn't be understood as a painting, it is a painted surface, and so it does fall under the purview of painting's conservators. An important work to my client, a collector of beer ephemera, this sculpture does present some unique challenges, but none that I haven't seen before. And so to it, I say, cheers! As an abbot in Oudenburg, Flanders, often depicted with a mash rake in hand, St. Arnold began brewing beer in 1080, and legend has it that during a particularly nasty plague, he encouraged the followers of his abbey to drink beer instead of water, thus saving many of their lives. And while not yet a saint, Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, will reveal his creative process for developing new beer recipes. You can then apply those lessons to your own work as you create an emulation beer recipe of your own. Whether you're simply a fan of beer or an avid home brewer, this class will challenge your creativity and provide access to Garrett's world-renowned recipes. The results should taste pretty good, too. But you know, maybe beer isn't your brew. Maybe it's coffee. In that case, go behind the scenes with Michael Phillips from The Blue Bottle for a one-hour class on sourcing, brewing, and tasting everyone's favorite bean. From the plant to your cup, he'll bring every lesson to life while also offering options, giving you a process for making a simple cup or going the distance with pro equipment. So from beer to bean and everything in between, Skillshare has something for you. The first 1,000 viewers to click the link in the description and use the code BaumgartnerRestoration will get a one-month free trial of Skillshare Premium, so you can find what excites you. Historically, many of these polychrome sculptures were painted with lead paint. Because this is flaking, and because the final destination is in a private residence, a home, I want to test this to determine if indeed it is lead. And instantly, we can see this lead tester turning red, which reveals the presence of lead in this paint. The first thing that I need to do is stabilize all of these areas of flaking paint. On a canvas, I might be able to and go from the back and address all of the instability in one fell swoop. But I can't do that here because this is a large block of wood, and gaining access to the back of the paint just isn't possible. I could try injecting it with a needle, but most of these areas aren't actively lifting, they've just kind of flaked off. So I'm taking an adhesive and a little brush, and I'm painting over all of the raw wood, partially to seal it, but also to hold down any paint that is potentially lifting. By forcing it into the edges of the paint, I can ensure that when this adhesive dries, it will be holding down that edge which is vulnerable to lifting. The next step is to begin the cleaning process. But first, I want to disassemble the parts that are loose, not only so that I have access to them for cleaning, but also so that I can repair them later on. So I will remove his little staff, and I will remove his hand, which is held in with a dowel that has seemed to come loose over time. These wood joints often break when exposed to humidity changes and movement with the wood. So with the piece completely disassembled, I can now start cleaning it. I've made some tests on this piece and determined that there is a heavy accumulation of soot, dirt, grime, ambient particulate, and, well, just gunk. The great thing about this paste, much like a basic beer mash, it is just the starting point. I can adjust the pH. I can adjust the concentration. I can even add enzymes to it, if that's what the piece calls for. So I can tailor this paste to the object I'm cleaning. And even though it may look the same, it is largely different based on the object. And that's where making lots of tests comes in, learning what this object can tolerate, learning what will be most effective, and what will give the best results. With one pass, I have removed the majority of the gunk, but I will come back a second, maybe even a third time with a milder solution and remove any excess residues. Because I stabilized this area of flaking earlier on, I'm not concerned about using a bristle brush and agitating this surface grime. Sometimes the agitation is incredibly helpful in breaking up the accumulated layer and allowing the paste to do its work. Once it's rested and had time to break down the accumulation, I can come back with a cotton ball and simply lift up all of that paste residue. And you can see that it's quite a difference. Even on the same piece, in different areas, perhaps a different color, a different approach may be required. And that's where having a base cleaning paste is really helpful. The red, for instance, was a little bit more fugitive. It was vulnerable to the concentration that it was effective on the green area. So I had to change the concentration of cleaning agents, dilute them a little bit, and make it more mild. Now, that doesn't mean that it's any less effective, it just means that I may have to make multiple passes to achieve the same results that I was able to get with one pass on the green, because the green was more stable. It didn't react as much to the cleaning agents as the red. But after making those changes, the results, well, they speak for themselves. Areas like the highly textured tunic will require a little bit more aggressive of an approach to get all of the grime and gunk out of the surface. Using a cotton swab here just wouldn't be effective, and so using a brush and agitating in and through all of those grooves does allow me to lift up all of that surface grime and reveal the pure white that is underneath. Cleaning areas of gold, or gold paint in this case, are always exciting because, well, we know that the gold is supposed to be quite brilliant. And here, as I agitate the surface grime and get it off with a cotton ball, we can see just how different it is. It may take a couple of passes to get in all of these little nooks and crannies, but if done right, we can see the change is well worth it. Cleaning a three-dimensional object is so much more time consuming than cleaning a flat painting. There are so many surfaces, so many nooks and crannies, cracks and crevices that need to be exposed to the cleaning agent, agitated to remove that surface grime, and then all of that grime and cleaning agent need to be removed from the piece, adding more time. But just like with cleaning a painting, it is incredibly rewarding to remove years and years of dirt and grime and soot and particulate. To reveal what is underneath that dark brown or gray coating is always exciting. And to see just how good it's going to look once complete, well, it takes a little work to see that, to see through all of this damage. But if one can, one can get an idea of how great the piece is going to look once all of the conservation work is finally complete. Aside from cleaning this piece and dealing with the stabilization issues, there is a missing piece of the sculpture. The mashrake that Saint Arnold is often depicted with, signifying that he is the patron saint of hop pickers or beer brewers, is missing. It has broken off. I have done quite a bit of research to look up different types of mashrakes, and, well, there is no uniformity. They differ in shape, in size, in construction. Even in the same countries, they have different styles. So I have chosen one that I think will look good and that I can recreate, and I have sketched it out to scale so that it fits. It would be a shame to spend all of this time making something that didn't fit. Don't ask me how I know. So once I have outlined the shape of the mashrake, I'm going to transfer that piece of paper onto a piece of basswood using some spray adhesive. Now, this is just temporary. I need this piece of paper on here so that I can cut out the shape. I could certainly trace this on with pencil, but this is a nice easy way and I am certain that the template will not move. So onto the bandsaw where I will start trimming down this piece of basswood to the rough shape of the mashrake. I don't have to worry about being terribly accurate because there is a lot of shaping left to do. I am really just looking to hog out as much of the material as possible to make the next steps a little bit easier. Because I like making more work for myself and taking things that should be simple and making them complex, I have decided to add some dimensionality to this piece. The cross members of the mashrake will be tiny dowels threaded through the mashrake. Instead of making them flat, I thought the three-dimensionality of the dowels would add some visual interest and make the whole piece look a little bit better. So once I have done all of that, I can begin shaping. I'm using a carving knife here to shape this basswood. And basswood is a really great wood because it is like butter. It carves easily. The grain is really forgiving so you don't get a lot of tear out. It is a nice, knot-free wood so it is clear and clean and it's just a pleasure to work with. Now, work it, I have to. There is a lot of hand shaping that is going to go on here. Hogging out the majority of the wood was a nice first step but I have to carve and shape, round off all of these tines, then I have to sand them and come back and make sure that the sanding was good and switch to a finer grit sandpaper and so on and so on until I have the rough shape. At which point, I have to figure out how to attach the new piece that I have just spent a time making to the old piece. And that means cutting the new piece into pieces. Which I have done and started to shape the contact points to make sure that it will line up with the old. Once I've worked it some more, I will begin the glue process. And I am using a standard wood glue here because I want this to be permanent. I don't want this to ever come off. So, glue on all of the contact surfaces, I will assemble it, put it all together, say a little prayer to Saint Arnold, and then give it time to dry. And hopefully, hopefully, it won't fall apart. After giving the glue a few hours, I can come back and take it out of the clamps and see how it has held up. I want to do this before the glue is completely hardened and dry because if I need to break the open, if it didn't bond in the right position, it is easier to do now than once the glue has fully set. But I'm happy with how it looks. Kind of. There is still more shaping to happen. I need to make sure that those transitions between the old and the new are really smooth. So, back to the carving knife, back to the sandpaper, and more working. And working. And working. I had no idea that something so small and seemingly insignificant would consume so much time. Once I am satisfied with the rough shape, I will come back with some wood filler on the edges, just where I could get the sandpaper all the way in, and make sure that I have a nice, smooth transition. Ultimately, I want this to be invisible. I don't want anyone to see this repair. With the new mash rake complete, I can start filling in the losses on this piece. Wherever there is raw wood, even though I sealed it up with an adhesive, I'm coming back with a gesso, because I want to make sure that the fill-in medium bonds really well. I don't want it to flake off in the future. And I have some concern about whether it will do that if applied directly to that adhesive. So, a little bit of gesso will ensure that the filler that I'm going to put on in the next step will bond really well and won't run risk of flaking off. Some of these areas of wood are really, really small, and I have to be really delicate because I don't want to get any of this gesso layer on the original paint. So, a small brush and a steady hand and lots of patience. In addition to coating all of the areas on the sculpture that were wood, I'm coating all of this new wood on the mash rake, because the fill-in medium will definitely flake off of raw wood. The wood will absorb the moisture in the fill-in medium. It will shrink, dry, and crack and flake. And now it's time for fill-in, which is pretty much the same thing I would do for a painting. Using a flexible fill-in medium, I will go across any areas of loss and apply it so that we have a smooth surface. The only difference here is that on these three-dimensional areas, my little palette knife doesn't really work all that well. Yes, I can apply the fill-in medium, but I need to use my hands to smooth it out and kind of sand it down, because I want to make sure it's really smooth. I don't want ridges or bumps or seams when I go ahead and do the retouching. And once I have applied the fill-in medium to all of these areas of losses, and I have come back with my hands to smooth it all out, I will turn to a little swab to remove some of the excess. Again, I don't want any of the original paint to be covered with this fill-in medium, just the areas of loss. And just like a painting, once the fill-in medium has dried, I will come back and start to remove the excess. In this case, I can use a swab. My fingers, whatever, will get the job done. But in this case, because there is three-dimensionality, I might have to come back and use a dental tool to dig out some of that fill-in medium where it shouldn't be. Case in point, in some of these letters, the fill-in medium has filled in the letters, and so this little dental tool will help me bring those letters back and get that fill-in medium out, because, well, it shouldn't be there. And now, on to retouching, which really isn't all that different than working on a flat painting. I still have to use the same conservation-grade retouching paints. I still have to mix the colors accurately and apply them deftly with sensitivity and constraint. But instead of working on a flat, two-dimensional surface vertically, I am working on a three-dimensional surface horizontally. So, a little bit different, but mostly just in logistics, not in any conceptual way. Whenever I retouch, I try to mix the color that I'm working on correctly the first time. But, inevitably, that's not always possible. Sometimes, instead of hitting the bullseye, I'm just on the target. But much like the cleaning paste that I was using, I can modulate the color. I can change it, make it lighter, darker, more blue, more warm, more cool, whatever need be. And sometimes it's not a single color that's required, but a multiple of colors to achieve a single effect. Even though you can see where I have retouched right now, when I'm done with this, it will all disappear. Working on the green is exciting and achieving a good result is always rewarding. But let's be honest, the thing that everybody is going to focus on is the face. So, it's not that the green is lower stakes or that the face is higher stakes. But, well, it is, after all. Luckily here, on this three-dimensional object, I don't really have to worry about impasto or the brushwork of the artist. There isn't any impasto or physical paint texture. The texture comes from the wood. And there isn't any defined style of the artist. Unlike on a painting, where the artist may paint in one direction or use a certain technique that lends itself to being a signature of that artist or a fingerprint, here, the artist or craftsperson who created this was not looking to add any stylistic choice that would be recognizable as their own. In fact, they were probably looking to avoid that so that these sculptures could be replicated over and over again. And if they look too personal, well, then you can't replicate them if you're working in a production facility. There were lots of areas of loss on this sculpture. And, again, I looked at others to try to figure out what they should look like. But ultimately, they were so different than this one, I had to take my cues from this one itself. Looking at the slight colors that were there, let's say on the eyelids, there is tiny bits of red. Or in the beard, there's a little bit of green. And so, where the losses were significant, I didn't have any material, but what was in front of me. Luckily, there is a lot in front of me to work from. And by working slowly and methodically, trying to match those colors and achieve a similar effect to the surrounding paint, I think I will get there. It may take a couple of passes, and it may require me to go back into an area that I thought was finished, like the eye, and add a little bit more. But ultimately, if that's what's needed, well, so be it. A little bit of attention, even when you thought you were done, can make a world of difference. Just a little bit of red here is that difference. Retouching, or, well, let's be honest, painting the addition to the mash rake is a little bit more liberating and free. Because there was nothing here, all I have to do is make sure that it blends into what was there, the handle of the because I don't want crisp, precise lines. The bristles going every which way help diffuse the paint. And I'm just going to be adding color, blending it around, adding some more color, taking some color off, so on and so forth, until I get an effect that I think will look, well, like it was always there. There is one last bit of retouching that I'm always excited for, and that's the metallic or gold paint. I'm not using a gold paint because that would not be reversible or archival. Instead, I'm making my own out of retouching paints on the left and mica powder on the right. Mica powder is minerals that have been pulverized to a powder, and when mixed with a synthetic resin and some base pigment, they can create a metallic paint. The difference here is that this metallic paint that I'm making, this gold paint, is archival and fully reversible. So if ever it needs to come off, it can. It's not permanent. Unfortunately, making this paint and making it opaque requires lots and lots of mica powder, which dries the paint out, which requires the addition of more medium, which makes it too thin, and so on and so forth. So by using some opaque colors such as white, I can skip ahead a little bit. Now, ultimately, the retouching I have to do with this metallic paint is very, very small, and so if it is not a complete match, I don't think anybody is going to notice. For a larger area, well, that would be a little bit more complicated. And you can see where basic yellow paint might suffice, it's just not the same. It's not going to catch the light the same way that the metallic paint will. The mica powder here makes a huge difference, and it ensures that when your eye goes over this area, you're not going to read it as yellow paint, you're going to read it as gold paint. One of the difficulties when working with any object that has been handled and has wear to it is knowing how much to retouch. On this area of the medallion, I am trying to retouch the areas that are most problematic, the most worn, but I'm not going to retouch everything because then this would look too new. It would stand out and betray the rest of the piece. So I'll hit the worst offenders, but leave some wear, because ultimately, I want it to blend in. Now, earlier, I bored a small hole into each end of this medallion because it was two pieces. Unfortunately, those two pieces didn't align and were askew, so boring this hole and inserting a brass rod, which can be bent if necessary, will keep this staff vertical and in a straight line. I don't want the bottom part being on a different angle than the top part. That would just look kind of goofy. So the brass rod holds it all in place. I didn't glue it because it wasn't glued, and I felt that that would have been a bridge too far. And with the mash rake in place, well, just about everything is done. The last thing that I'm going to do is apply a varnish to this piece, and I'm going to be spraying it to get even coverage. Because this piece has lead paint all over it, and because it was flaking, even though I was able to stabilize all of the areas that I had access to, some areas may decide to lift off in the future, and the application of this synthetic resin coating may just hold those pieces in place until they can be treated. I don't want any of that lead coming off and making its way into the home. In addition, this is going to protect this sculpture from dust, dirt, grime, ultraviolet light, which may affect the paint, and finally, it's going to make the piece look really, really good. These are full, dense colors, and they respond really well to varnish. Not to mention, all of that metallic paint, well, it's going to glitter once this varnish is dry. If we remember this piece when it arrived, it was quite dirty, really grimy in fact, and there was lots of flaking paint. Pretty much everywhere but the absolute back had some area where the paint had detached from the wood, and this was problematic not only because it made it look, well, bad, but this was lead paint, and this piece was going into a home, so that really wasn't safe. So my charge was to address all of those issues, to stabilize the piece, consolidate all the flaking, and make it look better. Part of that included creating part of the sculpture that was missing, the little mash rake, which arguably is the most important part because it is the symbol of Saint Arnold. Without it, well, this is just another saint. With it, we know exactly who he is and what he represents. And so with all of the work done, well, I have to say it looks fantastic. It doesn't look brand new, which was a concern of my client, but it looks good. The colors are vibrant. You can see the entirety of the image or the content without seeing any of the historical damage, and, well, it just looks right. So it was a unique piece with some unique challenges, but I wasn't scared off. And after all of that work, well, I think I deserve a small cheers.