Women Love Diamonds! Episode 1

Hi there! I'm Madalyn, Poster Mountain's summer intern. Here are some quick facts about me so we can get acquainted with one another:

• I'm doing my masters at Northumbria University at Newcastle UK, in Conservation of Fine Art specializing in paper. 
• I'm originally from San Francisco but moved to LA in 2007 to go to CalArts for my undergrad and now consider my self an Angelino (well aside for the moving to England part, but that's only temporary)
• I'm a painter
• I have a cat and his name is Stanley

This summer I'll be spending my time learning as much as possible here at Poster Mountain and doing different projects such as this one. These posts will follow the progression of treatment and restoration of a poster titled "Women Love Diamonds." So lets jump right in!

My first glimpse of the poster was an experience to say the least. Why you ask? Because it was literally in about a million pieces. Honestly! OK, well maybe not a million pieces but a lot. So the first task was to figure out what we have and what we are missing. 

We then transported her to the washing table in order to begin putting the piece back together. We started with the largest piece, placing it onto the Mylar and wetting it. Wetting paper?! Yes, a very common treatment in conservation in fact. By wetting the paper it gives it a chance to relax and expand in order to more accurately put the pieces back together. This process was repeated until we had all the pieces we had back in there intended spot.

I mean that's quite a difference already! She was then ready for temporary mounting and facing. Facing is another tool in conservation that allows for very delicate objects to be safely held in place temporarily.

Once mounted on the board she was left over night to dry. When we came back in the morning it was time to prepare her for lining. What is the point of lining you say? Lining allows for additional support and structure for paper objects. The first step was removing the back temporary facing, and very carefully sanding down the back surface making it incredibly smooth with no bumps or ridges.

Next it was time to take the poster off the board it was temporarily mounted to and once again introduce moisture to the poster. Once it was nice and damp, paste was applied to the back of the poster where it would go into contact with the lining. 

Now here comes the fun! She was lifted off the table and carefully placed onto the prepared lining surface.VIOLA! She is lined and ready for prep. Tune in next time as the journey continues with "Women Love Diamonds."