More Chambers Tiles

More Chambers tiles have fallen from the plywood backing in Grimsby.

This is an excellent opportunity to remove the various types of adhesives on these and get m into shape to re-mount.

Here I am removing contact cement from a tile. Contact cement, asphalt and tile adhesive!

After pieces large areas together, I intend to get interior reinforcing done. I will also take up bad original fits by bridging gaps where the tiles shrank in the kiln. 

Here's me 'buttering up' the interior of a tile to bridge gaps before the curved top surface goes on.

Fireplace Surrounds

A few years back I was asked to help with the production of two new fireplace surrounds for a home renovation. A box of assorted Victorian tiles landed on my doorstep and I was to clean and mend scorched tiles that were prised off an old fireplace. It was quite the assortment.

After we had a final count of tiles, it was realized that many more fireplace-grade tiles of the same size and 'depth' or width would have to be found.

I realized that this wouldn't look right unless the new tiles were English, from the same era (Aesthetic Movement) and had similar transfer-decorated motifs, style and colours. The tiles were largely floral in various colours - some very emphatic! They tended to be geometric rather than realistic. So, English fireplace grade transfer non-embossed Aesthetic Movement Victorian tiles.

It was EBay to the rescue! After many false starts, I found dealers in England who had boxes of mixed tiles in storage and often had two of the same type.

The computer was useful in making tiny virtual tiles that I could move around on digital versions of the fireplace drawings. Above is one of the fireplaces with an assortment of 'provided' and 'aquired' tiles.

Inserting Missing Text

Not something that I have to investigate very often - finding missing text.

Recently, I had to make lot of in-filling on the Merton Chambers tiles that were removed to my studio from the Grimsby Library project. Here are the areas with rough fill.

We ended up finding the text online in an unexpected place! An Adventist Newspaper from the 1920s - in Melbourne Australia.

'The corset - which compresses the vital organs overheats the region it covers, distances the pelvic (contents) serves as an (excuse for) ha(ng)ing the (clothes) upon the hips, the load impedes the circulation of the blood in the extremities lungs and brain and robs the wearer of freedom of grace and movement.'

Here is the article in it's entirety.

If it is difficult to read you will find it here -

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CCsQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adventistarchives.org%2Fdocs%2FAAR%2FAAR19200223-V24-04__B.pdf&ei=9aL_UobJDqWIyAG55YHwCw&usg=AFQjCNEbwUsBuv1i56_Tv7IcJAIB5Rn25Q

Was it a reprint in Grimsby? Early plagiarism? More than likely a reprint. Or was it from the Grimsby archives at all?

Definitely a crowd pleaser, I'm sure the quaint reference would excite interest from anyone stopping to read it.

Merton Chambers had an Australian wife, Anita Aarons who was a well known artist and arts administrator herself. Her beautiful stained glass windows can be seen at the Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue in Downsview. http://www.yorku.ca/rsgc/BethEmeth.htm Chambers also has a tile mural in the same location. They must gave collaborated often.

Just a thought...

Merton Chambers Mural Tiles

The work progresses on the Merton Chambers tiles for the Grimsby library.

There was a considerable ammount missing from these two tiles as I posted earlier. Here they are a little too clean and with preliminary in-fills. I also upped the contrast of this picture under led light to study the text.

The text was found online in a Melbourne Australia Adventist newspaper. The missing text was a rant on the perils of wearing corsets. It must have been a reprint in a Grimsby newspaper. Oddly enough, Chamber's wife was Australian.

Here's the restored and 'dirtied-down' tiles after treatment shown in sunlight, where they will largely be viewed. I'm very pleased with the results.

Grimsby Library Books

Here's Mark helping me out with a huge project at the Grimsby Art Gallery. I needed a driver as it was an exhausting project to accomplish in one day. 

I cleaned, sorted and reattached many tiles and fragments to tiles. Now I have to hope that the gallery will allow enough time for perfect adhesion. To get the tiles to stick, a lot of old adhesive had to be chiselled out. I had to use materials I know very little about. It's all a bit of a gamble on my part.

These plywood panels of terra cotta 'books' hung in the old Grimsby library as a solid installation - a 'wall' of terracotta and text reflecting the history of Grimsby. 

Over the years many book tiles had detached and were either broken or reattached with various cements. Here is a picture of two broken tiles removed to my studio for treatment. Missing material is indicated by yellow arrows.

A detail of a panel before any treatment.