A Breathless Update!
Way back in 2017 I detailed, at great length, a discovery Bo and I made. You can read it here.
This new post will not make much sense without first reading the 2017 post. Note: I have since recreated the lost east bump-out.
The trim in question. The poor dears.
You can see the missing bits.
Last week, while visiting my beloved friend, Sara, who owns Tallgrass Framing on main street, I asked if she knew somebody who could restore damaged gesso work on old picture frames.
She handed me a card for Alpha. “I’ve work with her for years and years. She’s excellent.”
I contacted Alpha. We met last Saturday. And, yes, she can restore the missing bits, AND replicate the original two-tone coloring.
Ross….excited.
Stay tuned!
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What a nice reminder of the crazy house sleuthing of years ago with the bump-outs. One of my favorite things to do with my friends and such who all live in old buildings is do a walk-through with them and see all the weird additions and curiosities and potential original fuck-ups that linger in these structures. In some way, I feel like it brings these buildings closer to humanity. To be human is to err, after all.
What a treasure to find someone who can restore that gorgeous trim! Looking forward to seeing it all come together…
Isn’t Sara wonderful? Fun fact: Sarah and I graduated from Emporia High the same year. I visit her almost every time I’m in Emporia (unless I’m unlucky, and I’m there when the shop is closed). I recommend a visit to the shop — which is housed inside Plum Bazaar on Commercial Street — to anyone visiting Emporia. It is stuffed to the brim with treasures from around the world.
PS: I think Sara is without an H. I can’t find my yearbook to verify the spelling, but her name is spelled without an H on the Plum Bazaar website.
I loved going back to refresh my memory on your and Bo’s sleuthing and subsequent revelation of how the bump-out looked originally. And that’s fantastic you’ve found someone who can restore the gesso on the trim!
With a pro handling this, it can be fabulous again. However, one could use Mold It to create a mold of the undamaged sections and use that to create new missing parts. You could also 3D scan the intact areas and have it 3D printed or print a reverse image to use as a mold.
Nice. There is plenty of the original left to make molds to create pieces to patch into those sections or even make whole new lengths of molding.
I’m watching The Pethericks and they are getting ready to print out wallpaper based on one repeat they found in a closet.