Welcome to J. Dimond Conservation Limited

Jim Dimond is a freelance paintings conservator/restorer with 25 years experience working in both public and private sectors. Work is carried out for individual clients, private galleries and insurers. Institutional clients have included Government Art Collection, Tate, English Heritage, The Science Museum, M.O.D., St Paul's Cathedral, Museum of London and the V&A.

Studio Description:

The studio is in a large and well equipped unit in south London, a few minutes from a rail station with 15min connection to Victoria or London Bridge. The studio itself has ground floor access with an entry capable of taking large paintings. There is excellent physical security and an up to date alarm system monitored by a central station with direct links to the police.

The studio is insured for goods in care up to a fixed value and insurance for very valuable objects can be arranged on an individual basis. Professional Indemnity is included in the cover. Studio security was set up in consultation with the National Security Advisor and has been security assessed by the V&A and Sothebys as suitable for their property. Studio equipment includes a large new low pressure lining table and a tracking microscope table.

Service Offered:

  • Accurate condition reports are provided for single paintings or whole collections.
  • Estimates are provided for single projects or rolling programmes of any size. Treatment proposals are discussed with clients or the artist where appropriate. Treatment should reflect the conservation needs of the object and the client’s budget.
  • Clients are welcome to view work in progress at any point during treatment.
  • Detailed treatment reports and during treatment digital images are provided
  • Treatments include surface cleaning; varnish and overpaint removal; re-varnishing; consolidation of losses and flaking paint layers.
  • Structural treatments include: thread by thread tear mending; re-stretching; strip lining and stretcher lining; full lining or re-lining, marouflage onto panel
  • Lining and structural work carried out for fellow conservation professionals
  • The studio carries out conservation re-framing
  • Scientific analysis can be arranged through specialist service providers to include: pigment and media analysis; X-ray photography and Infra-red analysis
  • Jim can quickly assemble a team of complimentary specialists from other conservation disciplines to respond to complex or large scale projects.

All work in the studio adheres to the highest ethical standards and is based in the philosophy that all treatments are reversible.

Personal Background:

Jim Dimond has 28 years’ experience in conservation. After a first degree in Fine Art, he trained at Gateshead Technical College, qualifying with distinction. The first 10 years of his career were spent in the public sector as conservation officer in two Area Service labs, one in Yorkshire and Humberside and the most recent at Kenwood House, Hampstead, working for museums and galleries in the southeast. For the last nineteen years, Jim had run a busy conservation studio, providing high standard conservation work for both private and public sector clients. Jim has always maintained a strong interest in advancing techniques and knowledge about structural work, and has presented papers to conservation conferences and published in professional journals, most recently presenting a paper on consolidation Icon talk on consolidation 10th October 2014. He is accredited to ICON (Institute of Conservation) and is a member of BAPCR (British Association of Painting Conservators/Restorers.

Jim Dimond has built up a range of contacts in both public and private conservation studios, people who can offer specialist advice and expertise. All colleagues and assistants that work in the studio are qualified and work to the highest ethical standards.

Publications, research and conference papers

Acrylic Dispersions as consolidants Two case studies involving consolidation of flaking paint using two acrylic dispersions - Lascaux’s 498HV and Medium For Consolidation 4176 paper given to Institute of Conservation (ICON) conference What’s New in Conservation? 10th October 2014

Conservation of 11 paintings for the V&A’s National Competition Gallery. (see The Picture Restorer No. 38 Spring 2011) Paper given to British Association of Painting Conservator Restorers (BAPCR) 2011

-Current research into alternatives to lining. Paper given jointly with Christina Young at BAPCR/UKIC Alternatives To Lining Conference in September 2003.

-Structural work carried out on a series of 17th century French Royal Portraits, on site at Chateau Belleroy, Normandy- paper given to UKIC Big Pictures Conference 2001

-Summary article, Recent developments in cleaning of paintings, Manual of Curatorship, Butterworth Heinemann 1992.

-Resin Soap experiments, Conservation News, Number 41, March 1990