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Art Restorer

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She was an "oddball" artist -- at least that's how Barbara Keyser remembers it.

Keyser finished a degree in fine arts and art history and was working towards a postgraduate degree in fine arts at the University of Santa Barbara in California. But she really enjoyed art materials and art history.

"One of my instructors asked me, 'If you're so interested in art materials and art of the past, why don't you become an art conservator?' and I thought 'Cool!'"

Keyser took a year of chemistry and other courses she needed for acceptance into a conservation program. Then she took a three-year program in Oberlin, Ohio.

Keyser spent a few years in archeological conservation, working on everything from pottery to cannon balls. "Then I decided I wanted to get back into painting," Keyser recalls.

She remembers the pleasure of working on one classic painting desperately in need of restoration. A large expanse of blue sky was obscured by the yellowing of previous restoration attempts. "There were clouds, but they were all blotchy. By removing the old restoration, the painting was revealed."

Keyser often has that sense of discovery. "It's ongoing. The field is intrinsically interesting because of the strange mixture of the art and material history of these objects."

One month, she learns about the preservation of modern plastics. The next month, she might have to know the traditional way of applying gold leaf during Egyptian times.

"I learn something new every day," says Keyser, who went back to school for doctorate training and now teaches art conservation. "If I'm not learning something to present to students, they're learning something on their research projects to tell me!"

Egyptian artifacts are some of the most popular items conservator Tom Stone has handled. When he speaks to students, most want to know one thing: has he worked with mummies?

"Occasionally we have dealt with mummies," Stone laughs. "Not so much the bodies as the linen wraps, which are very fragile. And the sarcophagus -- the wooden cases."

Stone's work has been primarily in ethnographic conservation -- the preservation of Inuit and native materials and tribal art.

"Kayaks are another interesting problem we've dealt with," he explains. "What they are is a stretched skin over a wooden frame. In time, the skins get dry and shrink, causing splits and cracks."

There's no way to make the skins pliable again, so conservators have to devise a way to fill in the cracks. "Make it look better," he explains.

The fragile kayaks presented an interesting problem: how to clamp the sealant in place. Conservators have to move a metal plate over the inside of the kayak with the use of a magnet.

After the sealant is applied, a strong magnet would hold the plate in place and gentle pressure is applied. When it's dry, sliding the magnet back to the kayak opening moves the plate back too. From there, the conservator can grab and remove it.

Stone got into the field with a degree in archeology. He was hired to be trained as a conservator.

Stone's career has given him the chance to travel all over the country and work intimately with some beautiful and historic pieces, including mummies and kayaks, baskets and sunken ships. All take time, patience and technical know-how to conserve or restore.

"It's an extremely interesting field," says Stone. "There's always something different.

"It's almost like detective work," he continues. "After two to three months working on a specific object, you know the personality of the person who made it. You know where they changed their mind. How it was used. There's really a story being told."

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