Most families have stories from the past handed down from the oldest to the youngest, recalling the history of the family through major and minor events – sometimes tragic, sometimes funny.  Most families also have memorabilia of some sort, often connected directly to those stories. This physical material helps keep these stories alive and relevant, making them more meaningful and giving a ‘voice’ to the past generations.   If a family wants to maintain its history, and keep those stories......

Condition This beautiful object – an undated Margaret Preston woodblock – came into the studio recently in a very sorry state.  As with many paper-based artworks, it had suffered badly from being framed with acidic materials. It was fully adhered to an acidic backboard, and the window mat (also of acidic board) was fully adhered to the front of the woodblock around all the edges. The print was on a Chinese laid paper, with little fibre strength left. The print......