I have been very busy the last few months and have not been able to post for a while. I have been working on a large double portrait which is nearly done and about which i will speak in another post.
I have also been doing some interesting art restorations which might be of interest.

The first is a 16th century painting which seems to describe a battle that was a massacre but which also shows allegorical leanings to the crucifixion. The design of the figures is in the shape of a cross and the nude figures seem to be similar to Christ and the two criminals who were crucified with him. There are also figures in armour with a red cloak which signifies someone high up. Red was a very expensive color and very hard to get so it was only used to denote a nobleman or king or possibly someone very well-to-do. Its a very interesting piece because in the distance there are what looks like fighting skeletons- It could be figures that have been cleaned off in previous cleanings.
 This painting was really dirty and had a lot of smoke- type residue The sky has a lot of damage so  I will have to do a bit of patching there. I have not finished cleaning it yet which is why it looks a little smoky in places, but it is a very interesting painting. Besides it's really exciting to have a 16th Century painting in my studio!
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The second painting I had to clean was an 18th century scene of an Austrian or German town. it has some lovely things in it. I had to patch some terrible scrapes and fix the edges. it was painted on Cardboard and is in remarkable shape considering what the surface is. it has some cute details like laundry fluttering in the breeze and smoke coming out of Chimneys so one gets an idea of a peaceful unremarkable day- pretty nice feeling in this piece. it was a lot of fun to work on.

I really enjoy art restoration because you can learn so much about different techniques of painting especially if the work was well executed.