Bob Welbuam: But What About Collecting?
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Horror Story #5
Ron did a beautiful restoration of the Pegasus mother and father from Fantasia, flying full-figure � a marvelous pose. He called the owner, who was on the East Coast, with the good news, �It�s ready! Do you want me to send it FedEx?�
�Oh, no, no, no,� came the quick reply. �You must not send it FedEx. No, I�m flying to California to pick it up personally. I�ll be there in two days. I fly first class.�
So the owner came to California, arrived at S/R Labs, and was soon sitting, carefully holding the restored cel in his hands by the corners, scrutinizing it. He was very pleased. �Unbelievable! Wonderful! That�s�� Then he suddenly saw something. �Wait a minute, what�s that?� He inhaled and blew a big puff of air on the cel, and at the same time spat directly onto the cel and brushed it roughly with his hand. You can, I�m sure, imagine Ron�s reaction.
One more point about restoration: what Ron really �loves� is when people say something like �Oh, look at that. That picture is fading. You know, we should keep our eye on it.�
Keep your eye on it? Excuse me, but it�s not going to heal! It won�t get better! If you see a picture fading, call for help. It can be rescued. Ron explained how he had just completed restoring a series of Civil War letters. The owner said �But I kept my eye on it for a couple of years.� Fortunately, this rescue operation was a success. So don�t wait, call when you see something changing.
Next, let�s talk about framing artwork. What do you use in your frames? Glass? Pardon, but why would you frame anything in glass? Remember, in Southern California there are 30,000 earth shakes a year. And there�s no West Coast exclusivity when it comes to natural disasters; three of the most powerful earthquakes in U.S. history were in the central Mississippi Valley (1811-1812). Glass breaks, and shatters, and what does it do to your art? It irreparably cuts it and makes the job of the conservator absolutely ghastly.
You probably use glass because someone sold you on the idea that glass is okay. And glass is �okay,� but on balance it�s not wise to use. In addition to breakage, here are a couple of other points to remember.
Glass sold in your average framer�s shop is usually �the cream of the crap.� If you insist on glass, at least get the best quality you can. But in Ron�s view all glass is bad for artwork
During your last visit to a framer, you may have heard some impressive-sounding terms. �We use museum framing!� Or how about �We use conservation framing!� Each of these terms is wonderful.
So just what museum is that? The truth is, there is no organization in the world that regulates the terms �museum, preservation, or conservation framing.� What they mean to say is they use materials that don�t age as fast, except they usually don�t take into consideration what they�re framing as opposed to what they�re using to frame with. Just think about what you�re buying, whether it�s for an oil painting, a piece of animation art, or a high school diploma. And never, never put a framed piece over a child�s bed. Yes, they do fall off and hurt, even kill, children.
By the way, glass is the slowest-flowing liquid known to man. That�s why when you see colonial homes in Williamsburg, they have drips in the windows, because they�ve been there so long the flowing becomes visible.
So the lesson here is it�s best to use glazing-quality UV5 acrylic. It may be three times the price, but it�s about three million times safer. Plus if you�re worried about the impact of light on your framed artwork, light is almost a non-issue with UV5 acrylic, which filters out 99.9% of ultraviolet light that hits the surface. Ultraviolet light is the energy which depletes color, although (not to complicate matters further, but I will) what really depletes color is not light as much as it is ozone. That�s why you have to keep your art clean. It�s okay to get your art out where you can see it. Normal daylight is fine. Florescent lights (at least at the time of this presentation) actually have more ultraviolet than the ambient light in your house. That�s why UV5 acrylic is a really good idea.
There�s also styrene. Styrene is the one you have to be fearful of; that�s the one that off-gasses. You can�t tell by looking which is styrene and which is acrylic. But there is a test. You test it with your tongue. (No, really!) If you touch it with your tongue, styrene will tingle. The way to tell if something is framed in glass or acrylic is to touch it to your cheek. Acrylic retains heat. Glass retains cold. That�s why most people prefer soft drinks in glass bottles.
As long as so many people are using glass, how do you clean it? Never ever spray anything onto the glass itself, because it runs down onto the bottom of the frame, then wicks up underneath and leaves a stain on the mat. Ron recommends using a little water misted, not sprayed, on a soft cloth.
Let�s say you frame something in acrylic in front of pastel. Some people say �I can�t frame my pastel piece from Fantasia because if I put acrylic in front of it and I wipe it, it�s going to cause a static charge and then it will suck all the pastel to the acrylic and it will ruin it.� But did you ever notice there is no static electricity on a rainy day? That�s because of the moisture in the air. So how do you make an anti-static cloth? Put a little water on it. Not only is it anti-static, but dust clings to it. You really don�t need anything to wipe your acrylic down if it�s clean. So all you really need to do is dust it � a soft cloth with three drops of water.
I realize this has been a sobering discussion with all those admonitions and horror stories. But remember what�s really important in the final analysis: to enjoy your art. Have fun with it. Isn�t that why you have it? Just watch out for those episodes of temporary insanity. Use some common sense when you handle it, and remember there are highly skilled and experienced conservers at S/R Labs available to help you keep it in pristine, enjoyable condition.
For more information on S/R Laboratories, and to consult �Lab Notes� on preserving your collectibles, visit their website at www.srlabs.com.
For more information on the NFFC and their conventions, visit www.nffc.org.
Discuss It
-- Bob Welbaum
Bob Welbaum is a longtime Disneyana fan and NFFC member from the Dayton, Ohio area.
-- July 9, 2009