Erin Bending Acrylic

Whew! I’m just back from teaching two mountmaking workshops in New Orleans and had a fine time! Three days with the great crew at the National WWII Museum, and another two day workshop with the Solomon Group, helping their excellent team add to their skills. In between, I got a bit of time at the New Orleans Museum of Art, seeing Krewe du Vieux, (the first of the Mardi Gras parades), and of course, eating great food!

Teaching these two workshops on site gave me the chance to help each group work out their shop needs and style of work. We spent time on brass mounts, plastic mount fabrication, and using magnets in textile mounting. We even worked out a fresh design for giving support to worn documents on display. Above all, working with these great folks gave me a lot of juice for the next workshops here at Mountmaking Focus Studio.

With that in mind, I want to announce the next workshops here in Seattle. They will be March 13th-16th, and May 21st-24th. The May workshop is also scheduled to coincide with the PACCIN Rigging Workshop that will be held on May 19th and 20th at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle. I’ll be attending the Saturday session of that one! Come to both workshops and you can learn how to pick them up and how to keep them up.

These four-day workshops explore the how and why of museum exhibit mountmaking with an emphasis on object safety and preventive conservation. The first two days we’ll teach methods for analyzing objects for their condition and balance, making templates for accurate mount fabrication, and the construction of mounts in brass and other metals. Hands-on practice in metal forming, silver brazing, and mechanical fastenings will be integral to the workshop.

Ian working at the vise.

The third and fourth days will focus on working with plastics for mountmaking, including mount design considerations, fabrication, and finishing of mounts made from acrylic sheet, Vivak, and other suitable plastics. We may also work with mounts for textiles or other specialized object types, as well as discussing principles of seismic stabilization. The direction of this part of the workshop is somewhat determined by the interests of the participants.

The cost of the four-day workshop is $800 plus a $50 materials fee. The two-day sections of the workshop can be taken as individual sessions. Please contact us for registration details or with any questions regarding this or future training workshops and opportunities.

Nico’s mounted copper ore.

Nico’s copper ore mount.