"Tis The Season Of Beauty & Art"
New studio commissioned artwork of a backdrop for the Nativity Creche.
December marks the end of the year and a time to reflect on the past year and plan for the new year ahead. It is a month of festive holidays when family and friends come together to enjoy the magical spirit of the season. Decorations are all around us to help ignite the holiday spirit, some handmade and some just fall out of the sky. Depending on where you are located, this is a time of year when you might be able to see mother nature's decorative artists at work using cold weather and water to create snowflakes. Snowflakes fall with a fascinating variety of shapes and patterns and add decoration to winter landscapes. Viewed up close the details and designs of the ice crystals can be amazing. As snowflakes are formed and travel through the air they slowly grow into a unique decoration yet they do contain common shapes and patterns in the crystal facet and branch elements. The use of decorative painting techniques in historic buildings may not have the uniqueness as snowflakes but contain common elements in the implementation with the details and multi-step process to achieve the final painted decoration. Some of the common decorative painting techniques that can be seen in historic interiors includes: stenciling, trompe l'oeil, marbleizing, faux bois and glazing. Even something that most people would think to be a simple process like glazing typically requires a multi-layering of several glaze colors to develop complex and beautiful surfaces. This multi-step process can involve applying three to thirty coats of glazes to produce a variety of appearances. You can read more about the use of decorative painting and techniques in the blogs below.
Latest Articles & Announcements
The Gilding Restoration Process: An Inside Look
Last month we took a look at choosing between gold leaf and “gold” colored paint for exterior gilding projects. This month we take a look inside the restoration process for gilding, to gain an understanding of the process, materials, cost and timeline involved.
The Importance of Historic Theatre Maintenance
Some of our past theatre blogs focused on signs your historic theatre is in need of restoration or repair and the process of the steps to historic theatre restoration. This month we shift to the topic of maintenance. Along with the typical electrical, mechanical, or plumbing maintenance, maintaining architectural elements of any theatre including decorative paint and plaster, is key for both entertainment and safety purposes. This blog takes a look at the importance of historic theatre maintenance.
5 Architectural Treasures Designed by Ralph Adams
Ralph Adams Cram was an influential architect known to design within the realms of the Gothic Revival style and designed many famous buildings. Since December is Cram's birthday month we figured it's a perfect time for a blog to take a look at 5 Architectural Treasures he designed.
Check out recent additions to the Canning 45th Anniversary Retrospective...
Every month this year we have continued to share and expand this page, so see what is new in project highlights, fun facts, stories, photos and more. Check out the latest additions!
Do you have a Canning story from the past 45 years?
As we wrap up the year celebrating the past 45 years, we still would love to hear from any of our team members (owners, contractors, engineers, architects) that we have had the pleasure to work with over the years. If you have a story, favorite memory or something that you want to share, feel free to send us an email.
Traditional Building is a great professional resource for public and residential architecture. The magazine and the website are read by architects, contractors, facility managers, developers, artisans and interior designers.
In the December issue of the Traditional Building Magazine, the featured interview was with the Founder and Principal of the company, John Canning. The Master Artisan John Canning interview takes a look into the journey John has taken over the last six decades and how he has become a renowned expert in architectural arts restoration field.
If you happen to get the hard copy version of the magazine, the December issue also includes the 2022 calendar that Traditional Building puts out each year. Be sure to check out the month of July where you can see some of our award winning work for the National Landmark Cosmos Club in DC.
Besides Ralph Adams Cram's birthday, this month in history we celebrate the birth of one of America's premier Architects, Horace Trumbauer. We are familiar with Horace's work having performed the restoration of the decorative finishes at the National Historic Landmark Union League of Philadelphia which John Fraser and Trumbauer designed. We were also honored to receive the 2018 Trumbauer Award from the Philadelphia ICAA Chapter for our conservation and restoration work at Luzerne County Courthouse. The Award in his name recognizes those who preserve and advance the classical tradition in the Philadelphia region. The 2018 Trumbauer Awards were actually held in the stunning Lincoln Ballroom at The Union League of Philadelphia were we had provided the decorative finishes on the new coffered ceiling. The ceiling was reinstated based on an historic sketch by Trumbauer.
In many historic preservation projects one of the big challenges is finding the funding needed for the preservation work. The PreservationDirectory.com is a online resource for historic preservation and building restoration. It recently launched Historicfunding.com a comprehensive database of funding sources for historic preservation and restoration which maybe a help in the funding challenge.
An interesting blog article you might want to check out is a part of a series and the latest is titled "Cracking the Classical Part 4 – Mouldings, Ornamention, Decoration and Language".
The Impractical Architect, Adventures in Traditional Architecture is written by Hugh Kavanagh. This latest blog takes a look at the architectural mouldings, covering the common definitions, different types and how they are applied in practice.
We understand the importance in sharing our expertise and knowledge in our field. Besides the monthly newsletter and blogs we post, we also develop and share downloadable resources to help guide you in your conservation, preservation and restoration projects. Check out the Resources page and see if any of the resources can help answer some of your questions and provide a better understanding of some of the intricacies in the preservation field.
Check out a couple of the Downloadable Resources below.
Traditional decorative painting and finishes can enhance all types of architectural spaces including residential. Our latest resource, the Residential Interior Decoration download contains some examples of decorative techniques and finishes that we have performed for high-end luxury residential spaces.
Wishing everyone a Blessed and Joyful Holiday Season.
As a national nonprofit preservation organization, the National Trust for Historic Preservation works to save America's historic places and is a great resource for anyone looking to learn more or get involved.
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