Ok I admit it, we don’t always do what the customer wants! We were reminded this week about the need to provide appropriate advice to visiting customers, which might involve as in this recent incidence, in not doing what we are first asked to do!

Let me elaborate.. a couple, who have never been in before, arrive at our workshop with a limited edition Banksie print. It has languished in storage for a number of years, at one point getting a smidge damp in the garage, causing a touch of cockling. (By this I mean getting wrinkled, rather than being attacked by molluscs). So, can we please flatten it by sticking in down, and then cheaply frame it so it can be better presented for sale, ask our new visitors?

One slightly cockled Banksie print

One slightly cockled Banksie print

Well after some discussion, I am happy to say I talked them out of both the sticking and the framing. I simply pointed out that the best course of action with any art print, especially one known to be valuable, is to do nothing irreversible to it. We could have dry mounted it, but it would quite frankly never be the same again. Secondly, we advised to surround the artwork in a benign and gentle cocoon, using materials described as ‘acid free’, ‘ph neutral’, and conservation grade. Easy for us as we always use Arqadia conservation board for our window mounts, and ‘Artbak-C’ is the only backing material we stock.

More signs of attack perhaps by molluscs

More signs of attack.. perhaps even by molluscs

And as for framing it, we suggested this might be entirely unnecessary as the print will probably be posted once sold, and having a decorative frame plus glazing (even in acrylic), is asking for damage in transit. Far better to seal it into a strong lightweight crate for shipping to whatever corner of the globe it heads.

The finished result.. a conservation cocoon

So the result was happy customers.. pleased with the visibly less cockled print looking its very best, and a much smaller bill than they imagined too!

Tim