A private conservator of works of art on paper based in St James, London. Suzanne Press & Associates was launched in 1997 and celebrated 20 years in paper conservation.

Resins, waxes, commercial glues, pressure sensitive tapes (sellotape and masking tapes) and old animal glue or old starch pastes can either stain the art work. Non reversable adhesives can get embedded within the paper fibres or the paper ‘bows’ due to these hinges expanding.

Creases for e.g. dog ears breaks the fibres of the paper which becomes more visible. Sometimes these creases can be pressed flat.

Folds should be unfolded or else those sections can easily fall away. If corners have paper losses it is more difficult to re hinge the art work or information or a painted area is lost.

Although rinsing with water draws out acidity, the addition of an alkaline buffer to paper is sometimes best for long term preservation. Another method of deacidification is re mounting with mount boards that are made out of conservation materials. Another visual sign of deacidification is when the bevel of the matt or window mount becomes orange in colour. That orange colour is acidity and it can leach onto the art work beneath it.

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Due to sunlight, indoor lighting and radiators (the many heat sources in one’s homes) this causes daily chemical reactions that ages works of art on paper. The paper either becomes brittle or the media can fade or get disfigured by becoming darkened.

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Water, sunlight and age can all cause damage to a piece that makes the paper’s finish appear matte.

As with upgrading mounts being made from conservation methods and using non Ultra Violet glazing, see case called Silkscreen because the wood of the frame if touching the art work can cause staining to the edges.

This subheading can also be called ‘housekeeping’ when after several years owners check whether the wire or other method of hanging the picture is still strong, whether to upgrade the glazing and if thunder bugs or other small insects have gotten into the frame. Frames needs to be properly sealed from the verso as this is a deterrant to bugs coming in. When sealing a frame, it is done with white or brown gum tape or self-adhesive wide tapes.

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This term is used to describe weighing up the risk of removing the likes of sellotape but having some paper skinning gone in the process. (See case study with Christopher Richard Nevinson – his lithograph is on very thin paper, so any paper skinning is a risk. Better to leave any residue in place till the next time that art work goes to a conservation studio).

If an object has been pasted to a support that is not part of its original art work, it could be masking some information (see case study Indian Drawing with letter) or the backing is of inferior quality board and can cause staining or get brittle and if the art work is re framed it can break in half.

Common methods to remove backings is immersion in a water bath. If the object cannot be put in water one resorts to dry removal. This is called mechanical removal (See case study Giant Watercolour. It was giant as it is 6 foot long watercolour and its backing board had to be removed by mechanical methods. Enzymes can be added to water baths or via Steam or local application of moisture can assist mechanical backing removals, especially of the final layer of a backing immediately touching the verso of the art work.

Retouching is done by the minimal application of watercolour, acrylic, gouache, or pastel. Any indentation or a scratch form a broken glazing makes the surface more difficult to retouch. (See case studies Architectural drawings of St James’s Palace and the Varnished Print of Rome).

The goal is to make this sort of disfiguration. When there are straight lines or flat washes where repairs have been inserted these areas can be retouched. Conservators should not be restorers and bettering the artist whose art work is having conservation.

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Cleaning is always the first step after unframing an art work and after before treatment photography. Frames are not air tight and there is atmospheric dirt in the air travelling about. It is more visible when art works are not housed correctly.

Surface dirt and grime builds up. To remove this either a soft brush or other materials are used to remove the soot and visible marks. For e.g. non chemical sponges and non-abrasive pencil erasers can achieve this, along with cotton wool.

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This process is often called ‘wet treatment’. There are various levels of ‘wetness’ and each of these are beneficial to the art work even though it is draw in or painted onto paper. Clean water not only removes dirt it aids in removing the soluble stains or fox marks. Paper (although ‘dry’) is hydroscopic and from having wet treatment/s the acidic compounds and other degradation products that have built up in the paper are ‘drawn out’. Washing or art work being humidified or sprayed relaxes brittle or distorted paper and enables better flattening or re pressing. For the above reasons artefacts that are not visibly discoloured may still benefit from.

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