Religious Plaster Sculpture Restoration

Plaster sculpture restoration project for the St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Elko New Market, Minnesota. These sculptures were chipped, faded, cracked and missing areas all together in some cases.
denisehouk.com/
stncc.net/

[@valeriakovac8186]

Denise very good i like your work , would you able to tel me what kind paint to use to paint the statue ,i just working on one at the present time

[@DeniseHoukMedia]

For these I used acrylic and sealed with uv spar urethane because they are on display outdoors. What you use depends on what is on them to start with and where you're keeping them

[@catholics4unity]

Nice restoration. We have the same Stations of the Cross, in our church.

[@DeniseHoukMedia]

Thank you. Do you know anything about them? Do you know where they are from or their age? I couldn't find out that much about the originals.

[@catholics4unity]

Denise Houk our statues were from Deprato Studios in Chicago Illinois. Our Parish is St. Isidore Church Grand Rapids Mi. I fought to save our gothic church altars at Stations of the Cross. We did lose our altar railing.

[@brendahicks4701]

I am attempting to restore one of our angel wings from our church. What type of paint should I use on this plasrwe piece

[@DeniseHoukMedia]

It depends on where it will be. Traditionally they used oil paint. There are pluses and minuses to using oils. They are good indoors, they blend well and they will match more closely original paint work. On the negative- they take a long time to dry and don't stand up well if the statue is outside. These stations were going outside in glass enclosures. I used acrylics with spar urethane with uv protection. I also used an airbrush. Acrylics dry quickly and don't blend easily so I wouldn't use them unless you're spraying them. I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me on Facebook messenger

[@Actionfiguresarefun]

I was wondering what kind of paint you use? I’m going to be painting some plaster statues of Jesus and Mary. I normally work with oil paints. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[@DeniseHoukMedia]

Hi. I didn't see this message.. Sorry. I hope it went well.

[@petro7642]

Hey! I'm havin some trouble giving a soft and homogeneous finish to the suurface paint on some sculptures I'm restoring...I tried rubbing it with soft clothes, and was told I should also apply some varnish...Any other idea on how to solve it?

[@DeniseHoukMedia]

I liked the matte finish from the paint but when I put a varnish the look was really nice. I would varnish especially if you have used a paint that had some gloss to it. Try a flat finish. These were going to be exposed partially to the elements so I used a spar urethane. I was really happy with the finish. I sprayed it on. You can use a HVLP if you have it our buy it as a spray. If they are indoors you don't need a spar.

[@DeniseHoukMedia]

I posted a new video with more information on my channel if you're interested