Enfilade

For anyone especially interested in yesterday’s interview of Patrick Baty by Courtney Barnes, you might have a look at the website of The Traditional Paint Forum. In addition to publishing a journal and a newsletter entitled Smudge (reason alone to learn more!), the TPF hosts an annual workshop/conference. This year’s took place in May at the newly restored Strawberry Hill. Talks addressed topics such as ‘Historic, Exotic and Imported Pigments’, ‘Modern Manufacturing Methods and the Appearance of Paint’, ‘Raw Earth to Pigments: Vernacular Paints’, and ‘The Impact of Artificial Light on the Historic Interior’. From the TPF website:

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The Traditional Paint Forum (TPF) is interested in the influences, personalities and circumstances that gave rise to particular decorative schemes in an architectural context. But, very importantly, we also believe the only way informed judgements can be made about the significance and future of existing or lost schemes is to also understand what materials were used to create them and how they were executed. The why is not the whole story … how can be just as vital!

The holistic nature of the organisation is perhaps best reflected in its Annual Workshop/Conference where the papers given on the architectural and historical significance of particular decorative schemes are given greater depth by contributions on: paint-analysis; conservation techniques; cleaning and redecoration. This is usually supplemented by practical demonstrations of the original techniques and materials used and possible new alternative paint materials that might be worth considering.

The Annual Conference is reinforced by an annual journal containing articles on a disparate number of topics, but often including papers delivered at the conference, and a newsletter, Smudge. The TPF have also organised some very successful Technical Days (‘Paint Day’) which give an introductory overview to traditional paint technology and, through popular demand, have been repeated on a number of occasions in different United Kingdom locations.