"Shimmering" Monoprint by Rosemary Cooley. And additional print by Rosemary can be seen in our newsletter as well as on our website
Below is part of an article from WPG’s Winter 2010-2011 Newsletter. In addition to information about upcoming shows and events, each newsletter also includes images of recent editions our member artists are working on and short articles on their current projects or print-related events. Read on to get a taste of Rosemary Cooley‘s take on a recent visit to the Smithsonian American Art Museum:
On November 20, 2010, nine members of WPG and board members of the Washington Print Club gathered in the foyer of the Smithsonian Art Museum before opening hours and were led to the Lunder Conservation Center for an interesting tour of the Paper Conservation Laboratories with paper conservator, Catherine Maynor. The Lunder Center has sections for painting and sculpture conservation, and the public is welcome to view conservators’ work through large glass windows. This center is a real treasure for the public, and visual accessibility is a first concern. We were fortunate to be invited inside Kate’s “sanctum sanctorum”, the paper laboratory…
…The hallmarks of Kate’s work are threefold: quality, durability and reversibility. She likened her work to a physician’s, “first, do no harm”. Art on paper is fascinating and direct, but works are vulnerable to “agents of deterioration”, inherent in the materials or methods used by the artists. In the 19th century wood was plentiful, chlorine bleach was invented, and both were used in paper making, creating the possibility of deterioration. We learned that during the 19th century, wood shingles were often used as backing boards for art on paper with disastrous results. By contrast, artworks from the 16th and 17th centuries were made on substrates of cotton or linen and have lasted much better. The term “archival” as it pertains to paper products is merely generic, and acid free or pH Neutral are more exact…
Please click on the link to our newsletter to read the complete article, including a section on the three works the group was able to see in the process of being conserved. Other great articles included as well!
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