So my husband's most recent project is now completed. The project consisted of restoring two 19th Century oil paintings of the Scottish Highlands. We'd thought, at first, they were scenes of Wales, but we were wrong. From a copperplate inscription at the back of the most recently acquired of the two paintings by the same artist, the landscape is identified as belonging to Scotland.

First painting of two restored

The first one was in poor enough shape, but not so compromised as the second one. They were both bought from an elderly man who dabbles in many things, and selling antiques and collectible items is one of those things he engages in. He's also an artist of impressionist paintings and a sculptor who fashions art out of 'found' objects. As well, he is a master gardener, so he's a man of many parts. Apart from which he's a thoroughly engaging and likable person with energy to spare.

Painting two, the gashes backed by canvas patches

The second painting was in quite dreadful shape in that it had been punctured and torn extensively in several places whereas the first one only had a few smaller slashes. We treasure, my husband and I, 19th Century paintings, though those that were created in earlier centuries are also of absorbing interest to us. Over the span of a half-century we've seen many paintings and have been able to acquire some of what we've seen. Not paintings of great monetary value by any means by artists of repute, but representing inherent aesthetic value that to us seems beyond priceless.

Preparatory to applying gesso

My husband has also himself done some original paintings of his own. So he knows his way around canvas and oil paint. And he undertook, certainly not for the first or the last time, to restore the two paintings that he had acquired for the pittance they commanded because of the shape they were in. They were in that shape because the man who was selling them failed to adequately protect them from harm when he loaded them onto his truck which was full of other, less fragile items and a sudden stop-and-lurch had seen the unprotected paintings fall over onto sharp objects, tearing them.

Now that my husband has done as much as he could to restore the paintings and he did the same with the frames, cleaning them and patching the missing portions of the frame, then painting them and reframing the paintings, they're ready to be hung. Somewhere. Wherever we can find some spare wallspace. My husband is not completely satisfied with what he has accomplished; he  is always critical of what he does, but I'm more than impressed and full of praise for him.