03/05/2026
Quite the journey captured in these photos.
The first time I saw this piece, it arrived in a bin liner. Fragile doesn’t even begin to cover it — every touch, every movement caused it to come apart just a little bit more. It would have been very easy to say it was beyond saving.
But Melanie saw something worth preserving. And that mattered.
What followed was over two years of careful, patient restoration. Hundreds of hours. Unpicking, stabilising, recreating, reinforcing… and sometimes just sitting with it, figuring out the next tiny step forward. There were moments it felt endless, moments I questioned whether it would ever truly come back together.
But yesterday, it went home.
Whole. Strong. Beautiful again.
This project taught me a lot — not just technically, but personally. Mostly, it taught me to keep going, even when progress feels invisible. Because sometimes the work that matters most is the slowest, quietest kind.
Huge thanks to Melanie for trusting me with something so precious, for her patience over such a long journey, and for having the foresight to save it in the first place.
Restorations like this aren’t quick. They aren’t easy. But they are always, always worth it.
