Turning trash to treasure
IT IS a trite old saying, but certainly, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” readily springs to mind when meeting Carol Inggs.
The Hilton-based fine arts restorer “of all your collectables and cherished heirlooms” specialises in repairing and fixing those waterdamaged oil paintings, or shattered Wedgwood china cups, or perhaps that ageing picture frame …
And while others might look at your broken vase and tell you to toss it in the trash, Inggs will understand intuitively that this inherited family favourite holds a special place in your heart – and repair it so it’s pretty much as good as new.
It’s thus hardly surprising to find that many of the pieces in her lovely home, where she’s lived for 43 years, have been picked up at auctions and been “tweaked” by Inggs herself. And that this mirror, for instance, is set in an old picture frame into which she breathed new life. Most of the exquisite paintings adorning the walls were painted by Inggs herself.
A woman of many creative talents indeed!
Funnily enough, although she studied at art college in Johannesburg for three years after finishing school, she spent a number of years doing nothing more creative than being behind a bank counter – and before that, in a pharmacy.
“But I’ve always enjoyed fixing and restoring bits and pieces,” she said. “After college, I worked for a while with a chap doing stainedglass windows … creating gorgeous huge windows for churches and even once for the SAPS!”
Moving to the Midlands, she started working with local arts restorer Jill Gaylard, and found she loved it and was good at it. “We worked on a lot of Fee Berning’s pieces from Ardmore, which was fascinating.”
A decade ago Inggs branched out on her own – and since then, has gladdened many a customer’s heart with her painstaking and meticulous restorations, from repairing old damaged frames to fixing paintings, rebuilding broken vases and other objets d’art. She refurbishes chandeliers, furniture and ceramics, and can remould and replicate almost any pattern.
And painting. She’s an accomplished artist in oils and acrylics, and an abundance of these grab visitors’ attention on entering her home. From colourful roosters on a kitchen wall to a stark country scene, broken by a solitary farm gate, in the living room. Glorious tangerine aloes from Creighton fill yet another canvas, while particularly arresting is a landscape featuring a magnificent tree in the foreground, against an arid backdrop of desert and smaller receding trees.
“I love what I do,” Inggs said. “When I have a laborious job, I stick on an audio book, and listen to that for the two days or however long it takes me to finish the task.”
A steady hand and lots of patience are prerequisites, “and an ability to match colours if you’re restoring a painting, for instance”. She recently cleaned up 10 Tinus de Jongh paintings for a customer, who, to her horror, wanted to reframe the works in modern-day frames.
“You can’t do that,” Inggs said. “I cleaned and restored the old frames, painting them gold, and they looked as good as new.”
Inggs admits to haunting local auctions: “I bid on paintings with lovely frames, even if I don’t like the picture, which I toss out. Then I restore or repaint the frames, completely transforming them, and either use them for other paintings or to frame mirrors, or I sell them.”
The satisfaction of handing over a revitalised, much-loved and restored heirloom to a customer still delights her. “You or I might think it’s junk – but to the owner, it’s a precious collectable. And so it’s worth the effort.”
Carol Inggs, 8 Patterson Road, Hilton. Call 033 343 4140 or 082 952 5415, or e-mail her at carolinggs@gmail.com.