Do I need pro help?

[daval57]

My man is charging me £30 each.  A bit expensive I thought but I trust him, they are original water colours.
He's also re-framing and mounting a Victorian print for me.
Doing the lot for £105.
I'm happy! 
Forget my opinion, do you think the price is OK?

Dave

[Lydart]

Sounds about the right price.   Is he using museum mounts ?


I could have recommended an EXCELLENT painting restorer who does work for the  V & A and 'posh' people ... but he's in the Golden Valley so a bit far from you.


He restored paintings and drawings for us after they were fire/smoke/water damaged ... they were better than before the fire !

[daval57]

Museum mounts?  Sorry - yer talking to a bit of a numpty here!

To me, posh means pricy! 

I'm only a kiddy-on snob!   

Seriously, museum mounts?

[Lydart]

Its a sort of cardboard used to make the mounts which is acid free and therefore is supposed to be better for the pictures over a long time ?

[jc26red]

another numpty here.... where's the golden valley? 

Jenny

[PrueM]

Dave, if you want Museum quality mounts you have to ask for:
- alpha board
- conservation board
- Museum board
- cotton rag board

...it goes under various names, but basically it means that the boards that they use for mounting the watercolour to, and making the window mat, are not made with any wood-pulp (which becomes very acidic over time and will damage your watercolour) but rather are made with a pure cellulose fibre like cotton.  Yes, it costs more, but in the long run it will save you money because you won't have to get your watercolours dealt with in another 20 years when they get acid burn from a lower-quality mount!

Also, make sure your framer is going to hinge the paintings to the backing boards, and that he isn't going to paste them down onto the backing boards.  the latter is a definite no-no.

Prue 

[Gadget]

Dave

Could I reinforce what has been said. Everything has to be acid- free if you want to preserve fine art/photgraphs.  I've bought Mount board and acid free tape from Millers in Glasgow in the past:

http://www.millers-art.co.uk/acatalog/Millers_Art_Framing_220.html





Gadget

Added - £105 is pretty reasonable for two - make sure he uses hinges.

Saying all this, I still remember the wonderful Robert Adam water colours and letters from the Prince Regent that my sister and I discovered in a small room in Blair Adam in the 1960s - the cats used it as their little bedsit andthere was nothing that we could do then. I hope they were saved 

[daval57]

Thanks all.
I've already left the paintings and print with the guy this morning and will assume he knows what he's doing.  He's done good work for me in the past.  I'll ask him what he used when I collect them.  To be honest, I'm just going to be pleased to see them without the warping.  They were a gift from my brother and I was really upset that they got damaged.

Jenny, nice avatar.  That's new since the last time we shared a thread.  I don't know where the golden valley is either but it sounds like somewhere I would like to visit.

Dave

[Lydart]

The Golden Valley is in Herefordshire; it is named I suppose, from Abbey Dore, a large village in the valley, with an ancient abbey.  'D'or' meaning 'gold' ... hence Golden Valley !   It runs from Hay-on-Wye in the north, down as far as, I suppose somewhere around Pontrilas.  Well worth a visit, and especially to explore the lanes running each side of the valley.   Nice pubs, quiet villages and the Abbey is worth a visit. 



(I'll claim my commission from the Herefordshire Tourist Board later !      )