If I could have one photo represesent my theme "art restoration in Virginia," it would be this one. It has it all...the Blue Ridge Mountains, and a lovely painting in need of cleaning. And I think the pickup truck gives just the right rural atmosphere. This truck will soon convey the painting to another rural location in southern Albemarle county--my studio--a converted beauty parlor that my neighbor used to run in an out-building beside her house. After we took out the hair dryers and shampoo station we had a nice, convenient work space.
This photo sent to me by Stephen Yowell who is the Farm Manager at Ramsay Farm in beautiful Greenwood, Virginia , about 20 minutes west of Charlottesville. It is the top half of a trumeau, something that we don't see enough of. A trumeau is a mirror with a sculpted frame that usually has another section to accommodate a painting. The whole becomes very architectural which is fairly unusual in our country. Here, we tend to think of paintings as portable. In Europe paintings in past centuries were often designed for very specific locations, in cathedral chapels, as part of a mural scheme in a large home, certainly integrated with the architecture. Trumeaux, then, can provide a bit of that architecure -painting symbiosis.
Here is the finished work, reinstalled. The mirror below is reflecting the curtains and curios although in this photo it looks like an alcove.
To see an extensive chronicle of the restoration work being done at Ramsay Farm, check out this link.http://www.ramsayfarm.blogspot.com/
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