What we Do

When an item is brought in for restoration, I first look to see if the item needs to be cleaned. That is, was it previously glued meaning we have to first take it apart and clean off all the old glues first. Even if it hasn't been glued, each piece has to be cleaned becasue when we finish our work, anything which was there when we started will be there for ever, so all dirt, oil, glue or other things which accumulated over the years has to be removed.

Then I look at the number of breaks, what's missing like chips, fingers, arms, etc. and then at the number of colors which will have to be matched to redecorate the piece. We fabricate a lot of body parts, flowers etc. Our son is the best there is at fabricating missing parts. When he is finished, you would swear it was done by the original artist.

Anyway, once the pieces are cleaned, everything is reassembeled. It's like doing three deminsional puzzles and can many times be rather difficult. In some cases Jim resorts to a dry run or two to determine in which order the pieces go together. If it's not done right, you can lock yourself out and then it has to be taken back apart and you start over.

Once the pieces are reassembeled, all cracks are filled, missing parts are fabricated and then the filled areas are sanded so the breaks are smooth to the touch. When Jim is satisfied the piece is structurally sound, he passes it to his Mother who decorates it.

Billie matches each color, affected by the damage and proceeds to repaint all damaged areas. This entails matching the original artists brush strokes and patterns as well. This can be a very time consuming process. In some cases, the work Jim does is the most difficult and at other times what Billie does is the most difficult and then again sometimes it's all difficult.

When all damaged areas have been repainted, the item is then glazed to protect our work and return the piece to its original beauty. In most cases, restorations are invisible to the naked eye and will not show under a black light.

History

In another life time (about 25 years ago) I had an Uncle who was never around and all the family would say about him was he was in chips & cracks. I don't think anyone really knew what Uncle Bob did. Anyway at a point, Bob started to lose his eyesight, because of cataracts, and started looking around the family to see if anyone wanted to learn about "Chips & Cracks". It was then we found out what he really did. Bob was a Master Restorationist meaning he restored things and in this case that meant works of art, collectibles, heirlooms and the like. He had studied under and collaborated with William Karl Klein, from Pennsylvania.

At the time I was an accountant for Public Service Company of Colo. and was not ready to change professions. I had always been handy with repairing things but was not ready for a change. My Wife Bille and her Sister Wanda finally agreed to at least take a few lessons from Bob, to see what it was all about. Well, that was 25 years ago. That fatefull weekend, two Companies were born. Shortly there after, our Son Jim went to take classes and start his career as a restorationist and he joined Billies Company, "The China & Crystal Clinic". They worked out of our home in Longmont, Colo. and went to antique stores to advertise and beg for work. About four years later, I decided I had had enough of Accounting and we decided to move to Phoenix and I joined the Company. Again we worked out of our home and I joined the antique circuit, going throughout AZ, CA and NV, grinding glass and taking in restoration which I took home to Billie & Jim. We began to build our reputation and people would watch for the show to return. We outgrew our first home and moved to a larger home.

Working our of your home is no picnic when you do business form all over the US. You get phone calls very early in the morning and very late at night and it's 7 days a week. It didn't bother me too much because I was on the circuit, but it drove Billie & Jim crazy.

The first shows were rather slow because there was no advertising but as our reputaiton spread, the shows got better for us. I was on the circuit for about 5 years and the last two years were really beating me up. There were so many Antique Malls cropping up, people no longer needed to go to the shows to find their antiques so I had to do more and more shows and they were getting more and more expensive, gas, food, motels (flea bags mostly) and booth rentals. Anyway, the las two years on the circuit I did 42 shows a year. We decided it was time for another change and we found our studio on Scottsdale Rd. in Tempe, AZ and have been here for the last 15 years or so. I quit doing shows and have never regretted it. Our business has grown steadily and we have retained many of the customers I met at the shows. The best thing about the shows was, people would take my business card and send them to relatives all over the US.

In future blogs I will tell you a little more about what we do and how we do it and some side lites also.