Tim Puro writes a report on the DCTC Polychrome class:

 

Groop,

Here's a report on the Treatment and Application of Polychrome Surfaces

class held June 13-17 at Dakota County Technical College taught by two

of the Groop's greatest educators - Mitch Kohanek and Donald Williams.

The class was a real blast and I learned a lot. One of Don's goals for his

tudents during the week was that you would be bombarded with so much

information that your head hurt.  Well, congratulations on achieving your

goal with me Don.  Not only did my head hurt at the end of the week, I

was even a bit stunned! 

Groopsters in attendance included the New York Greg Johnson, along

with the South Dakota Greg Johnson, Charlie Lewis from Texas, Joe

Amaral from California, Rick Herron from Atlanta, and recent DCTC

grads Seth Steventon, Debra Golden, Jerome Dial, Bruce VanWyk,

Ellie Emanuel. (Hope I didn't miss anybody.) 

One of the projects was to take a $3 palonia box from Michael's and

apply a decorative Japanned finish.  The boxes were coated with multiple

thin coats of gesso, sanded, then coated with a shellac and powdered

pigment paint.  Some of the boxes turned out really cool.  Other boxes

(like mine) will serve as first attempt that can be improved upon with time

and practice. After the boxes were painted and the surfaces smoothed,

gesso was selectively applied to the box to form a design and then oil

gilded. The results were amazing when you considered what the boxes

were made of.

Charlie Lewis and Rick Herron apply a coat of cole to project boxes.

We spent about 40-50% of our time in lecture and Don did a good job

of making the complex understandable. By the end of the week both

instructor and student were a bit wound down. Don presented his

decision making model for conservation, talked about enzyme cleaning,

solvent testing of surfaces and selectively removing layers of paint, and

we even talked about treating paint chips with Poly Vinyl Alcohol to get

the chips to re-adhere to the surface. Don also described the process

of using common products available at Wal Mart to do conservation

work such as using St. Ives face mask as a peel to remove dirt from

textured surfaces and using gelled alcohol (Purel hand cleaner) to

selectively remove layers of paint.

Some of our other projects included making a batch of Mel

Wachowiak's Wonder Wax.  We got to play with Mitch's cool lab

hotplate and pneumatic stirrer.  Don also gave a demonstration on

creating water based shellac or "hat maker's varnish".  Just stir up a

mixture of distilled water, 20 Mule Team Borax and powdered shellac

and you will have a low odor shellac that can be tinted with water

colors for inpainting or touch up.  On the subject of touch up, Don

asked the class what the difference was between touch up and

inpainting. The answer: An extra $50 an hour!

Other shop projects included using different materials to fill gouges and

cracks on sample board including low heat hot melt glue, lightweight

drywall spackle, and even two part epoxy.

Seth Steventon and Ellie Emanuel supervise a batch of Mel's Wonder Wax.

Don brought along some of his library and gave us a list of about

10-15 books that he considered good resources for folks plying the

conservation trade. In addition, students received a six inch thick

binder of articles on everything from beeswax to solvent testing.

I left the class really jazzed up about what kind of repairs can be done

using conservation techniques.  I am also investigating taking chemistry

classes at our local community college so I can become more

proficient in the world of organic chemistry so I can better understand

the scholarly articles Don gave us.

All in all it was a great week of learning.  I can't say that I am ready to

hang out my conservator shingle just yet, but I learned more about

chemistry of finishes and finishing that I can apply to my everyday

work.  Thank you Don and Mitch for putting on a great week long

class on Polychrome surfaces.  I can't wait to take more courses from

SCMRE and DCTC's Dynamic Duo!

Tim Puro
Bloomington, Indiana