Charcoal

Today's the day ......................... to restore

Will bought this delicate charcoal sketch six months ago at an exhibition in the Harbour Gallery, Kirkcudbright entitled 'Child of the Colony'  - featuring a collection of work by local artist, John Halliday (1933 - 2021).  It wasn't until he got it home though, that he noticed that the paper showed signs of water damage, including quite a prominent discolouration affecting the area beneath one of the eyes of the girl.  But it was still a lovely drawing and we found just the place to hang it. 

Then a couple of months ago, we heard a talk by Helen Creasy, an expert conservator, specialising in the restoration of paper works of art.  The talk was fascinating, particularly because she showed lots of examples of 'before' and 'after'.  The treatment often involved immersion in water, which for something like an original watercolour seemed quite a brave thing to be doing!  We were very impressed with her - and Will asked her if she could do anything with his John Halliday sketch.  She thought she could - and that's where it has been until we picked it up on Monday on our way home from the wedding.   

So now Will has his sketch back - and is absolutely delighted with what Helen has managed to achieve.  It's back on the wall and will give us lots pleasure for time to come ........................