About three weeks ago, a customer comes in with a Mardi Gras related water color an "artist" friend of hers gave her for her birthday. It was about 16 x 20" and was an absolutely beautiful work of art, EXCEPT for a few small fingerprint-like marks on the white unpainted parts of the drawing paper. She asked me if there is any way they can be removed. I told her no (because i might ruin it), not that i know of... While framing it i had an idea about trying super-fine steel wool on the water paint. It worked!, except, after i removed all the unwanted water color spots, i held it up i could tell where the paint was because each spot was very, very shiny... almost like glass, while the rest of the paper was dull. To remove the shine, i tried an eraser (NOT a pencil eraser) and it took the shine off! When the lady picked it up she could not believe how good it looked and asked me what i used to remove the unwanted paint. I told her "it's my little secret" and laughed. She left and then, her friend, the artist called and asked me how i did it. I told here "very carefully" that it was "my little secret". She has been telling other artists about me and business has picked up because of this little incident.
Then, about two weeks ago, customer comes in with a print she purchased a few years ago over the internet. When she received it, she didn't really care for it and stored it in a closet. Talking to a fried of hers about getting a good deal on a print, they were surfing the internet and found a few great deals. Then, she noticed the one she saved in her closed and was shocked at the price the bid had climbed up to... almost $1000.00! and rising. She went to her closet and decided to put it on eBay, but framed. It was in "fair" condition because the black area (about 6 x 8") was "marred" (shiny lines about 1/8" wide)... not scratched. She didn't believe she would get as much for it as the one on eBay because of this. She picked out a frame, double mat, regular glass, etc... and left. After she left i decided to frame it. After the mats were put on, i kept thinking "How could i possibly get rid of the shiny marks on it?" Super-fine steel wool came to mind. It tried it and it worked like a
charm! I called her and she came over to pick it up. I showed it to her and pointed out that i got rid of the shiny marks. She was absolutely amazed! She asked how much more she owed me. I told her nothing. She stopped by the shop and told me she put it on eBay and sold it for about $12xx.xx dollars... almost the same price as the one she saw sold on eBay. She thanked me again and left. A couple of days later, she mailed me a $200.00 gift card (credit card type) i can use at one of my favorite restaurants!
Steel wool CAN do miracles!
Then, about two weeks ago, customer comes in with a print she purchased a few years ago over the internet. When she received it, she didn't really care for it and stored it in a closet. Talking to a fried of hers about getting a good deal on a print, they were surfing the internet and found a few great deals. Then, she noticed the one she saved in her closed and was shocked at the price the bid had climbed up to... almost $1000.00! and rising. She went to her closet and decided to put it on eBay, but framed. It was in "fair" condition because the black area (about 6 x 8") was "marred" (shiny lines about 1/8" wide)... not scratched. She didn't believe she would get as much for it as the one on eBay because of this. She picked out a frame, double mat, regular glass, etc... and left. After she left i decided to frame it. After the mats were put on, i kept thinking "How could i possibly get rid of the shiny marks on it?" Super-fine steel wool came to mind. It tried it and it worked like a
charm! I called her and she came over to pick it up. I showed it to her and pointed out that i got rid of the shiny marks. She was absolutely amazed! She asked how much more she owed me. I told her nothing. She stopped by the shop and told me she put it on eBay and sold it for about $12xx.xx dollars... almost the same price as the one she saw sold on eBay. She thanked me again and left. A couple of days later, she mailed me a $200.00 gift card (credit card type) i can use at one of my favorite restaurants!Steel wool CAN do miracles!
