Painting Restoration Portland Oregon
Our clients and projects
Painting Conservation and Painting Restoration services in Portland Oregon.
We do a lot of painting restoration and framing work. We restore modern and antique paintings. We can work with paintings on canvas and board. Clients of all kinds bring us their oil paintings, acrylic, gouache, tempera, or watercolor for service and restoration.
We get projects from all kinds of individuals:
- Art Dealers
- Buyers and sellers
- Private Collectors
… and every project has a unique story
- Personal paintings
- Inherited works of art
- mom and dad having painting cleaned to pass on to a child or grandchild
- Investment paintings
- art insurance claims
Painting Restoration Services Portland
- oil painting restoration
- clean and varnish
- repair rips, tears, and punctures
- frame restoration
- gold leaf restoration and repair
- custom framing
- varnish removal
- paint consolidation
Oil Painting Cleaning Services
We do more than just oil, but the most common reason a painting comes in for restoration is for cleaning. Varnish is used to protect the paint, but the original varnish and decades of contaminants naturally darkens the appearance. Antique paintings often used an organic varnish that yellows with age and tends to collect more dust and grime over time. (Modern varnishes do not deteriorate this way.) In extreme cases, such as heavy exposure to smoking and tobacco products with heavy nicotine buildup, the visual impact can be so severe it obscures the artwork to the point that it can no longer be enjoyed or fully appreciated. In rare cases when there is no varnish, the task of cleaning is much more technical, as much greater care must be taken to prevent damage to the paint.
Please do not use bread, milk, or lemon juice or other such techniques discussed on the internet to clean your painting. It is easy to irreparably damage your painting if the wrong techniques are used. During art restoration paint and the cleaning treatment used on it can interact in irreversible ways.
Repair
Outside of the wear and tear that occurs with age, paintings can show damages that must be addressed either to preserve the enjoyment of the art or to prevent further deterioration.
- Tears
- punctures
- disfigured canvas
- cracking paint
- peeling paint
- lifting and bubbling paint
- mold
- water damage
- fire damage and smoke damage
Severe damage such as torn painting may seem irretrievable, but often with our careful and practiced techniques, we can do a repair that is nearly imperceptible.
We deal with all kinds of wear and damage. In some cases the painting is so old the original canvas is no longer able to support the paint layer, though the most common damage to a painting is a rip or a puncture. We often see frames get damaged during moving or from falling off a wall due to the use of an incorrect fastener.
Frame Restoration
Painting restoration may entail fixing damages to the paint or canvas, but the frame is a part of the art as well. We can restore your frame if that is required. We can restore traditional gilded frames and replicate missing areas and color match all gold tones. If the damage is extensive, or based on your priorities, re-framing the piece from our extensive archive of antique frames is an alternative option.
- antique frames
- wood frame restoration
- resin frame restoration
- composition frames
- cast frame
Fixing damaged paintings is our specialty
We love color and texture. Repairing a canvas or cleaning an old painting requires constant and precise attention to chemistry and the effects of the work on the art. Art restoration and chemistry may not immediately seem related, but in truth are tightly related. While for others the process may seem tedious, infill painting on the blue sky of a 19th-century landscape—a blend of blue, brown, green, red, yellow and more – creates a great deal of joy for us.
Paintings brought to our Portland studio can be evaluated for age and origin usually within minutes. Oftentimes we find a family heirloom story doesn't quite match the reality of the age of the wood or the canvas. We can help you sort out those details and provide you with a reliable historical context.
Paintings are fully photographed and removed from their frames for restoration and cleaning. All work is done with reversible techniques using well known and studied conservation materials and techniques. Color matches are done in true and neutral light to ensure a precise match no matter the light source where it will be displayed. All work leaves the studio with new hardware and dustcover.
Our studied procedures are very prudent to keep paintings in the studio at a stable temperature and humidity. While they are here, they are kept clean and ensure no damage happens to the canvas or the paint layer. Working on an antique oil painting requires years of training and expertise. Color matching and infill painting is very rewarding but very difficult to get right. Our techniques always strive to remain respectful of the original artist's technique.
Every painting is priceless
People looking for art restoration near Portland come to us for expert painting restoration that is appropriate for their work of art done and always provided at a fair price. We treat the paintings made by clients’ children when they were young or a grandmother just like a Picasso. Every piece is treated with respect and benefits from the same high-quality restoration materials and consideration as restoring fine art.
Ready to find out more?
Reach out today for a free quote!