Riding the wind of rebirth

The paste is boiled into a paste block at one time. When needed, scoop out a piece and add water to mix and boil it into different concentrations.

However, the paste has to go through a self-aging process before mixing, and this process is just the right time to "solve the problem".

This process was newly named by Zhou Zhi. It was not necessary in previous restoration projects. The core of the painting was directly cut off, and then the pressure strip on the front, the back mounting and the paper were removed, leaving only the core of the painting to complete the preparation work.

But that is no longer possible now. The Ming brocade used in Shen Zhou's paintings is of such a size that it should be considered a cultural relic and we cannot throw it away at will.

Even the silk and the backing on the back look ordinary, but they are actually very old. Therefore, the new mounting technology needs to be very cautious in treating these ancient paintings. Try to preserve as much as possible, and keep the whole intact as much as possible, and don't break them up.

This undoubtedly increased the tediousness of the preliminary work. Fortunately, the processing techniques for the three paintings were exactly the same, and Zhou Zhi's skills were now very sophisticated, especially after having processed various rare and famous paintings. The psychological aspect had been honed a lot.

For example, several ancient paintings found in Dayi house hunting and paintings like the "Portrait of Lady Shexiang" in Bimodong that were broken and shattered can be restored. These three paintings are actually in quite good condition, so there is no pressure at all in terms of the difficulty of restoration.

Soon the cores of the three paintings were peeled off, and the remaining mounting brocade, backing paper, name paper, pressure strips and other materials were also carefully removed as intact as possible by Zhou Zhi, and pasted on the wind wall, and marked one by one next to them.

All that remains is to clean the painting core.

Although the "Scroll of Du Fu's Poems" is large, the picture is quite clean; the main work is to repair some cracks and damage; although the "White Ink Portrait of Taoist Master" is very old, the picture is relatively small and it was properly restored in the Qing Dynasty. Now it is just a matter of cleaning the picture, repairing the old damage, and repairing the edges and corners of the mounting.

The most complicated one is "Lin Dai Wenjin and Xie An Dongshan Tu". The difference between this painting and the previous two paintings in terms of palace mounting craftsmanship is that this painting was restored by the public. Although the craftsmanship is not bad, it is only the mounting skill, and no attention was paid to the treatment of the painting core itself.

When the painting core is unmounted and the repaired paper is removed, it can be found that the painting core is damaged everywhere, with holes and cracks everywhere, as well as marks left by mold erosion after being soaked in insect digestive juices and rainwater.

Cleaning them is a very delicate job, but the materials and tools are very common, a pot of hot water, a pile of rolled towels, and only when dealing with signs of erosion will chemicals be used. The rest is just tweezers and pure manual work.

However, the preservation and restoration techniques of Chinese calligraphy and painting surprised the team who came to film. They were surprised that the preservation process looked so simple, just paste and water, but the preservation effect was so good.

First of all, it is purely natural. Secondly, it is practical and beautiful. The most amazing thing is that it is reversible.

For Chinese calligraphy and paintings, the core of the painting can be removed from the painting regularly, repaired and cleaned, and then remounted. If properly preserved, a repair can last at least hundreds of years, and can be repeated over and over again!

This is also the reason why several paintings by Shen Zhou restored during the Qianlong period in the Forbidden City have remained bright and eye-catching, with clean surfaces, after hundreds of years under proper preservation, and have not sustained any damage other than normal aging due to contact with air.

However, the work was suspended with the arrival of the weekend. Zhou Zhi had just finished repairing the three painting cores, painted the walls with cloth and waited for them to dry. He had just enough time to visit Mai Xiaomiao's parents.

Long Island is a long and narrow peninsula outside New York, extending eastward into the Atlantic Ocean. There are Kennedy Airport and MacArthur Airport on Long Island, and adjacent to the airport is a major port. It can be said that it has unique conditions for economic development.

This place is a bit similar to the Pudong New Area in Shanghai in later generations. It was developed later than other areas in the New York circle. The port and airport are mainly on the south side of the peninsula, while there are many beautiful bays and beaches in the north, as well as various large and small parks, aquariums, resorts, museums, botanical gardens, and farms.

"In the famous novel The Godfather, the Corleone family's estate seems to be on Long Island?" "That should be the Italian community at the dock, right?" Mai Xiaomiao held the steering wheel with his hands: "We've passed it a long time ago."

"Thank you for your hard work these past two days, running back and forth." Zhou Zhi put his hand on the back of Mai Xiaomiao's neck and rubbed it.

Zhou Zhi stayed in Laixi Ju for the past two days, and Mai Xiaomiao did not mind the trouble. She drove to the college in the morning to give private lessons to her seniors, and then drove back to Laixi Ju in the afternoon to be with Zhou Zhi.

In the evening, I often have to help Zhou Zhi deal with some group business.

"Don't make trouble, I'm driving." Mai Xiaomiao shrank his neck: "It's not hard, but the two sisters said that you are not serious about the business and criticized you."

"How can you not pay attention? Tony Huang reports to me for more than half an hour every day." Zhou Zhi looked at the beach scenery and the beautiful villa outside the window: "Your parents are really good at choosing places. Is this where the rich people in New York live?"

“Above middle class.” Mai Xiaomiao said, “Not yet. My parents’ house is over in Oyster Bay, it’s more beautiful.”

Before long, the road reached a bay with a small port filled with various cruise ships. There was a signpost on the side of the road leading to the pier with a large anchor painted on it and the English sign of Oyster Bay.

Mai Xiaomiao turned the car onto a road in the opposite direction of the port. After passing a small forest of tall trees, the car entered a rather prosperous town.

There are many luxury stores and villas for rent in the town, which are a bit like the style of later B&B villas. It seems that this thing will take another 20 years to become popular in China, but now there are pioneers here.

But this is easy to understand. New York is now one of the world's centers. There are many rich and idle people coming here to consume every year, and this place seems to be a gathering place for tourists.

After passing through the town and waiting for a train to pass, the car crossed the railway and continued on, entering a small community a few minutes later.

The roads here are clean and tidy, with new villas on both sides of the road. The bay and the islands opposite can be seen in the distance.

"That's Long Beach over there." Mai Xiaomiao pointed ahead and introduced, "This is called Sunrise St. We're here."

There is a villa with a dark blue roof and white curtain walls on the side of the road. Behind the villa is a hedge that separates the artificial area from the natural area. The natural area is the native forest. Outside the forest you can overlook the hillside overlooking the bay.

There is a circle of lawn surrounding the villa, and there is no obstruction on the road side. Zhou Zhi took a look and found that all the villas in the community are like this. It is probably a convention in the community.

There was a semicircular porch between the villa and the lawn. A man and a woman were sitting there leisurely drinking coffee. When they saw the beetle appear at the door, they stood up together.

The man is naturally Mai Xiaomiao's father, Mai Jeff. The key is that Zhou Zhi also knows the woman. Regarding the legal dispute between the Alliance and the Practitioners Association, the representative sent by Collins Bank is Louise! (End of this chapter)