George Washington Is In The House!

By far, the most famous portraits of George Washington were done by Gilbert Stewart at the end of the 1700's. Its kind of cool to see one up close and personal... even better to massage it. We got to put our fingers all over this one by giving it a light surface cleaning, a couple of spots of touch up (inpaint) and a new varnish. Now he's all prettied up for the holidays!

The Cleaning Lady Was Knocking The Paint Off!!!

Can you see where the cleaning lady was knocking paint off when she dusted? Sometimes paint peels up and flakes off in tiny patterns and unless you are looking for them, you won't notice until its too late. If too much original paint is lost, you will loose value. You can always have it repaired... but it may loose value just the same.

Here's a tip for your cleaning lady: Don't touch the art work! Don't wipe down (dust) the frames with a damp rag.

BTW, I like this picture. I'm drawn to the illustration art from back in the 1930's through the 1950's that Norman Rockwell made so famous. This is not a Rockwell but as you can see, there were other great artists.

A great discovery rewards a smart buyer... after cleaning this painting!

The overall gray color of this painting made it look like it was painted dark and gloomy. But the new buyer knew that this artist usually had much brighter colors. He was very smart, waiting to buy this after it failed to sell at auction for a huge discount. Now, with the cleaning and a new frame, the painting's value should change substantially. Look at the difference between the right side (clean) and the left side (dirty)!!! Wow... we see this kind of change all the time and we are still amazed. WARNING! If you are a do-it-your-selfer, this is not a job for your 409, Windex or your favorite potion. The dark colors are prone to dissolving more easily than the other colors and a half cleaned job would look blotchy and terrible. We are using a rotation of several solvents to ensure safety for the colors while yet removing all the grime and discolored varnish (and maybe some smoker's nicotine mixed in!).