Preserving the Handiwork of Time and Art: The David Ireland House
As a conservator, I started out conserving historic building materials and finishes, but that’s morphed into working with art and sculpture, too, like the murals in Coit Tower and the gypsum-and-latex door surrounds by Tom Otterness for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Recently I’ve had the opportunity to work at a fascinating intersection […]
Varnish as Art: Restoring the Finishes at 500 Capp Street
I remember the first time I walked into David Ireland’s house, not long after the 500 Capp Street Foundation hired us to handle the conservation of this building that was also a major work of art by an amazing artist. I was immediately drawn in by the warm, lustrous, amber-colored walls—the result of the layers […]