On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 16:03:58 GMT, (Anna Kettle)
wrote:



LOL OK you've convinced me! Funny how other peoples work always seems
much more glamourous than your own. I've just spent two days on hands
and knees crawling around in 20mm of accumulated dust in a church
roofspace inspecting the ceiling below. I am filthy dirty and
exhausted. Yet I get a steady trickle of people who email or phone me
up wanting to know how they can do what I do for a living.

I guess that one's own chosen occupation seems easy to oneself and
sometimes attractive to others.

Looking at your web site at some of your work, I can appreciate a real
artistry in it as well as what I imagine is going to a huge amount of
trouble to get the authentic and right materials for restoration.


Do you ever get to see any old buildings in your travels?

I don't often have the time, unfortunately - mostly it's arrive at
airport, go to meetings, go to eat, go to hotel, do emails, go to bed
and repeat the next day with different people. Occasionally there
is an opportunity though.

If so, have
you seen any decorative plasterwork? I know Southern Germany / Austria
has sgraffito and someone told me that the Algarve has pargeting, but
I've hardly ever been to the European mainland in my life - always
gone for holidays somewhere more exotic and 3rd worldish

There is certainly a great deal of valuable architecture in Germany,
and it is obvious as you move from northern Germany to Bavaria and
further on - for example gothic churches in the north like the Dom in
Koeln and onion-shaped domes in the south. I've never studied
plasterwork in them, but my guess would be that it's more likely in
the south to have ornate decoration - the northern ones seem to be
much more austere.
Possibly there is more around as you go further south that wasn't
architecturally remodelled by the RAF.

I can ask some colleagues next time I see them as to where makes sense
to go.

It might also be worth looking at places like Budapest. I am pretty
sure that you would find interesting things there.





The water should be warm now, so thankfully off for a soak in a hot
bath

Well deserved by the sound of it.


..andy

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