Specialized in Object and Library & Archive Conservation
Workshops & Seminars
Re-usable and Modular Book Cradle System
Creating the modular structures
Creating the modular structures
Offered through the AIC Annual Meeting 2022.
Taught by Alessandro Scola, this workshop was an introduction to a system of supporting books for exhibition based on a series of re-usable modular structures built with polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified (PETG). Attendants were given presentations on concepts and design principles, a workbook of practical instructions to build the modular structures, and a set of PETG to build models with that attendants took home.
PC: Workshop attendant
Historical Book Structures Workshop
Taught by Jeff Peachy
English Publisher's Boards Binding
(Early 1800's)
This model is made from 10 signatures sewn together using two on sewing on 4 recessed cords. Thread is linen size 4 and the cords are linen 2 ply. Spine is backed to 5 degrees and lined with test flax rawhide adhered with wheat starch paste. The covers are Davey board and sides are a Hahnemule Ingres paper in blue-green.
French Binding (1700's)
These models are made with 17 signatures of Ingres paper sewn on 5 cords using 2 on sewing. The thread is linen size 4 and the cords are linen 3 ply (2 ply for miniature). ABM board covers are pounded and cut at an angle along the spine. The spine is pushed to a natural round before lacing on the covers. The head, tail, and foredge of the textblock are ploughed. Edge decoration is either solid color or sprinkling watercolor that mimics vermillion. Solid Pergamena calf skin is the covering material. The leather marbling uses a combination of ferrous sulfate, hydrated potassium carbonate, lemon juice, and glaire. Beeswax and hot tools burnish and tool the covers for the final product. The larger model is a cutaway and the minature is fully finished.
Half Leather Binding (Mid 1800's)
These models are made with 16 signatures sewn on 3 recessed cords using two on sewing. The thread is linen size 4 and the cords are linen 3 ply (1 ply for miniature). The spine is backed to 90 degrees and adorned with sewn on two color front bead endbands. Davey board lined with paper composes the laced on covers. Hahnemule Ingres paper lines the spine as a two on hollow. Small strips of unpaired goat leather hide glued to the spine create false raised bands. Paired goat leather is adhered to the spine and corners. The sides are hand marbled paper using primary colors. The false raised bands as well as the spine and corners of the miniature are tooled. The larger model is a cutaway and the miniature is fully finished.
German Binding (1500's)
The larger model is 36 signatures with bifolio end leaves of Ingres paper and the miniature is 24 signatures. They are both sewn on three sets of double raised cords. The larger model is sewn with a herringbone stitch. Oak boards are on the larger model and cedar boards are on the miniature. The boards are planed to shape to accommodate the spine round. Four thinned parchment strips line both spines. All textblock edges are ploughed except the miniature foredge. Indigo edge coloring is mimicked on the larger model using watercolors. The larger model boards are intricately shaped and cut for clasps. The miniature model is cut for clasps but with no addition shaping. Whale tail inspired clasps adorn the miniature model. Alum tawed leather covers the larger cutaway model and is the quarter covering and clasp strap on the miniature.
Archived Workshops
and Seminars
Workshops and seminars in this section have little to no images on the website due to storage space limitations.
WUDPAC Object Seminars
B-72 Fills for Glass
Victoria Schussler gave a guest lecture on the process of creating Paraloid B-72 fills and showed us some case studies where the fills were utilized. We then had the opportunity to make molds for future use and experiment with inpainting the fills.
Inpainting
My biggest takeaway from this seminar is "inpainting is only as good as your fill". We discussed techniques for color matching and pattern matching, then got to try our hands at both.
Plastics
Caitlin Richeson gave a guest lecture on the history of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) in art and art conservation. We were then given kits that contained a variety of plastic materials. Various adhesives were laid out for us to test out surface damage repair methods and breakage repair methods on the plastics in our kits.
Feather Treatment
Feathers are a sturdy but fragile material, and can easily become disheveled through object use and handling. This seminar let us explore feather treatment in dry cleaning, solvent cleaning, structural repairs, and re-aligning the barbs.
Basketry
We learned in depth on techniques of reshaping, mending, and loss compensation for basketry in the lecture portion of the seminar. The hands on portion gave us an opportunity to apply some of the techniques including: humidification and flattening, loss compensation with a variety of materials and adhesives, and eyelash mends.
Ceramic Stain Reduction
We learned about stain types, reduction methods, and reagents typically used. The focus of the hands on portion was the poultice method. We were given a variety of poultice materials, chelators, and oxidizing bleaches to experiment with. I enjoyed being able to isolate variables in trying one chelator with different poultice materials for example.
Silver Lacquer
This seminar went over different types of silver objects (e.g. sterling silver, silver plated copper, gold plated silver, etc.), washing, polishing, and coating silver. The coating portion focused on silver nitrate coatings for silver because that's what is used on Winterthur's silver collection. In the lab we removed a silver coating with steam and washed, polished, and brush applied lacquer to a silver fork.
Leather Week
This seminar is a whirlwind week of leather with both Object and LACE students. We practiced species identification, leather processing identification, experimented with leather repair, and attempted acrylic cast films to mimic leather. One big takeaway: butt leather is the best leather!
WUDPAC Library & Archives Seminars
In-Situ Repairs
In this seminar we discussed textblock repairs, board to text block reattachment, and external binding repairs. We were tasked to repair a book cover corner and I chose the putty method. I made a putty of wheat starch paste and cut up linen cord then shaped a new corner over the damaged one with the putty. I learned the putty shrinks a decent amount when drying.
Pressure Sensitive Tape
Elissa O'Loughlin lectured us on the history of pressure sensitive tapes. We learned about the differences in chemical makeup of pressure sensitive tapes that include various adhesives, elastomers, tackifiers, and carriers. We then discussed case studies of pressure sensitive tape related aspects of treatments.
Gels for Paper Conservation
In this seminar we experimented with Gellan Gum and agarose gel for uses in paper conservation. We mixed gellan gum and casted it into a small chocolate bar candy mold which resulted in consistent rectangles of gel. We mixed agarose gel and thin casted it between two sheets of Mylar. On experimental paper objects we used both gels for stain reduction and tape removal.
Enclosures
I love rehousing projects, so I was excited for this seminar to learn more about different types of housings for books. This was my first exposure to the CoLibri system. We discussed the pros and cons of a variety of housings from the humble folder to the fancy clamshell. We also examined many of the housings we discussed and I even made a clamshell box.
Preservation Management
The goal of this workshop led by Dr. Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa was for us students to gain the knowledge and skills to plan and execute a collections survey. With the help of a case study by Amber Kehoe, we students were tasked with designing and testing a collection survey. Our WUDPAC group was given the Digital Downs Wallpaper Collection to survey. In the process we learned a lot about designing a survey tool, and the pros and cons of virtual surveys and digitized collections.
Scrapbooks and Ephemera
In this seminar we discussed scrapbook terminology, structure, ethics, value assignments, and preservation methods. Each student was responsible for finding a scrapbook case study to inform the discussion, and I used the David Fox Nelson Scrapbook collection.
Adhesive Pre-Coated Tissues
We first tested different types of pre-coated tissues with different application methods (e.g. direct solvent application and solvent pack reactivation). After determining our preferred methods we made pre-coated tissues of varying paper fibers and adhesives given which tests we liked best. Klucel G was my personal favorite.