Mold on watercolors

I received the following email from an artist.  I am going to post
it at <URL:http://www.thepaintershandbook.org> under Watercolors,
but I am not going to say anything about treatment--I am not a
conservator.  I will however, recommend to the artist that the
clients take the work to a conservator in their area.

No doubt, conservators in the lower Mississippi Valley are very busy
these days.  Does anyone have a recommendation of who to see, or for
an alternative approach?

   "I'm a watercolor artist from Waveland, MS.  Katrina hit this
    area hard and not many pieces of artwork were saved.  I was
    surprised today by a customer who said they were able to save a
    watercolor but it had mold.  What is the best way to get rid of
    the mold without losing the painting? Any help in this matter
    would be greatly appreciated.  If there is no easy fix do you
    know of any conservators left in our area?

   "Here is what my customers said:

   "'We have one of your watercolor paintings which we purchased
   shortly before the flood in NO.  It is one of the two pieces we
   forgot to put on the upper floor before we evacuated.  The water
   came up to the lower third of the piece and the part covered by
   the water has little mold.  However, above it there is mold. Over
   all the piece still looks pretty good and we love it.  Do you
   have any advice on how to minimize the mold.' "

You can read my posted answer to the question about mold on
watercolors at

    <URL:http://www.thepaintershandbook.org/
        forums/showthread.php?p=441#post441>

    **** Moderator's comments: The above URL has been wrapped for
    email. There should be no newline.

Mark D. Gottsegen
Chair, ASTM D01.57
Co-Director, AMIEN
Associate Professor
Department of Art
UNC Greensboro
1203 NC 62 East
Climax  NC  27233-9183
336-707-3647
Fax: 336-334-5270


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 20:19
                  Distributed: Monday, October 9, 2006
                       Message Id: cdl-20-19-023
                                  ***