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Chapel
Ceiling,
Mary Mount Chapel, Tacoma, Wash.
This richly rendered ceiling mural-painted by a well-known artist at the
turn of the century-had experienced extensive water damage, with nearly
half of the ceiling destroyed. I was commissioned to undertake the restoration.
For an artist, restoration offers special and intriguing challenges. In
a classically rendered mural like this one, I must adapt to the original
artist's method of painting. I have to determine his brush stroke technique,
understand his color use and re-create his palette. Using very poor, 50-year
old photographs of the painting, I had to redevelop large areas that were
devoid of any original information. I teamed up with another skilled artist,
Brian Storts, and the two of us approached the delicate challenge with
enthusiasm.
As soon as the underlying plaster ceiling was repaired we were able to
set about our work. The project lasted two weeks from start to finish,
during which we worked on high scaffolds (rubbing our necks occasionally
to assuage the fatigue of working with our heads upturned). We traced-in
our images and began the undercoat painting. Softening the edges between
the existing painting and our new work took time and patience. The four
panels depicting various aspects of the life of Christ were framed with
faux mosaic tiles. To end up with a virtually undetectable match, we recreated
the framing pattern, made stencils and did a little math. When restoring
a piece of art that has aged considerably with soot, candle sediment,
fading, and basic deterioration, it is crucial to determine the essence
of the original-often bright-paint colors that were used. An important
rule is that you must first go all the way forward before you can bring
it back. That is to say, we had to paint the new areas in a fresh, new
manner. Once this was completed we could then reduce the 'newness' by
antiquating it to simulate 100 years of aging.
Painting in this manner is a wonderful exercise for an artist. Adapting
to another style often requires the reproduction artist to project himself
imaginatively into the mind of the original artist, to try and perceive
the world as he did and apply that perception in executing the restoration.
