Welcome
to Brenwasser
Studio and
PaperConservationServices.com
Fine Art conservation services for your paper artwork and documents
Fine Art conservation services for your paper artwork and documents
BA American Studies
Multidiscipline coursework included History, Political Science, American Literature, and Art History. Accelerated graduation with AP credits and one summer session at UC Berkeley.
MA with Commendation Conservation of Fine Art, Works of Art on Paper
Three days per week studio practice (in second year) included treatment of hand-colored prints, a watercolor painting, Indian manuscript pages with verdigris damage, a large-format map, and a wall covering fragment incorporating European and Japanese papers and a textile. Treatments were informed by technical examination including UV fluorescence, IR reflectance photography, and for one watercolor painting, x-radiography. Procedures included washing, alkalizing, stain reduction with solvents and bleaches; multiple methods of tear repair, inlay, lining, toning and retouching, mounting, and reframing. Gained proficiency with colored pulp infill. Coursework included printmaking, the chemistry of artists' materials, instrumental analysis, history of art and artists' techniques, passive conservation, collections survey, environmental monitoring and control, the transportation of art, and pest management. Discussion and reading was supported by written assignments, workshop files, and individual and paired PowerPoint presentations. Master's Research Project included cleaning and relining a wallpaper sample page and investigations of the physical characteristics of its painted Japanese grasscloth support, through experiments on mock-ups, microscopy, and analysis of samples with SEM/EDX and FTIR.
Nov.
2006 –
Nov. 2007
Nov. 2007
Supervised by Mary Schobert, Senior Paper and Photograph Conservator
Examined and treated a variety of paper-based artifacts including manuscripts, typed and printed documents, photographs, engravings, and lithographs. Specialized treatments included pulp repair, adhesive reduction with enzymes, infills with custom-toned or antique papers, the use of fixatives and special washing techniques to preserve soluble media, and calcium-phytate treatment of iron-gall ink. Expanded knowledge and treatment experience with alternative supports including tracing paper, photosensitive architectural print supports, and attachments such as silk ribbons and applied seals. Consolidated flaking media and reduced planar distortion of parchments. Participated in multiyear CCAHA projects including the treatment of a full edition of Audubon's Birds of America, and government archives of handwritten Colonial-era iron-gall ink documents with applied seals. Contributed to group treatments including the retouching and lining large-format lithographs and wall maps. Used digital photography and literature searches to draft a report that supports evidence of twin paper molds in an historically significant folio. Engaged tour groups and other lab visitors with demonstrations and explanations of treatments. Assisted the Director of Preservation Services in an on-site survey of a historical library, drawing on knowledge of preventive conservation, pest management, and environmental control objectives.
June 2005
Supervised by Clare Baxter, Collections Manager
Wrote condition reports, catalogued and rehoused about 1000 architectural plans, drawings, and maps in Northumberland Estates archives. Maintained continuity between two-week sessions in each of two years. Led student team in second year, with increased organizational and decision-making responsibilities.
August 2004
Supervised by Keith Oliver, Conservator
Cleaned and repaired objects from the 18th to 20th centuries including black and white and hand-colored prints, and mixed-media botanical studies. Cleaned and rehoused glass-plate negatives during a weeklong on-site condition survey of a photographic materials archive.
September
2003
The Image Re-integration Conference / 2nd Triennial Conservation Conference, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
London:
British Library
Tate Gallery
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Edinburgh: |
Scottish
National Archives Scottish National Museums Historic Scotland |
Metropolitan Museum of Art Sherman Fairchild Center for Works on Paper and Photograph Conservation, New York