Dave
SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
I'm framing a large pencil drawing approx. 30 X 35 drawing size. It's a long story, but the drawing had gotten wet in a mountain creek in Utah after a winter storm car accident. It is graphite on heavy wt Strathmore 235 series 100% cotton vellum...probably 4-5 ply. It came in very wavy and I put it in my press at low heat (under 100 degrees) and it flattened out nicely. No staining on the front surface of the drawing...not even a watermark...must be that clean mountain water.
The back however had some blackish marks on it that I found when I started putting the frame package together and I thought it best to eliminate any foreign material before putiing it together. I took a white plastic eraser fully expecting the marks to disappear. They didn't even smudge. My slow to wake up brain then realized these are probably mold spores and if they were not "neutralized", humidity could reactivate them and big problems could result.
The drawing is fairly valuable, probably in the $3000-5000 range and I'm framing it for the artist who has sold it to a doctor friend at a reduced price because of the slight damage. Framing nicely with 8 ply rag mat, rag backing, UV glass etc.
I was trying to get this to them by Christmas but halted work this evening and called the artist. He was very appreciative of my concern and said to do whatever is necessary even though we won't have it to him for Christmas.
Is it a simple process to get rid of these spores? Is it something I can do or do I need a paper conservator to look at it. As always I appreciate any knowledgeable help.
Dave Makielski
P.S. I might also add as a last thought that I do have several UV light sources which are contact exposure units. The marks are only on the back. Is graphite suseptible to deterioration from exposure to UV light? Would it harm the paper? Would it kill the spores or could it mutate them into a state of taking over the earth with a strain of Super Spores? Just a thought...
The back however had some blackish marks on it that I found when I started putting the frame package together and I thought it best to eliminate any foreign material before putiing it together. I took a white plastic eraser fully expecting the marks to disappear. They didn't even smudge. My slow to wake up brain then realized these are probably mold spores and if they were not "neutralized", humidity could reactivate them and big problems could result.
The drawing is fairly valuable, probably in the $3000-5000 range and I'm framing it for the artist who has sold it to a doctor friend at a reduced price because of the slight damage. Framing nicely with 8 ply rag mat, rag backing, UV glass etc.
I was trying to get this to them by Christmas but halted work this evening and called the artist. He was very appreciative of my concern and said to do whatever is necessary even though we won't have it to him for Christmas.
Is it a simple process to get rid of these spores? Is it something I can do or do I need a paper conservator to look at it. As always I appreciate any knowledgeable help.
Dave Makielski
P.S. I might also add as a last thought that I do have several UV light sources which are contact exposure units. The marks are only on the back. Is graphite suseptible to deterioration from exposure to UV light? Would it harm the paper? Would it kill the spores or could it mutate them into a state of taking over the earth with a strain of Super Spores? Just a thought...