‘Furniture with good bones’: Marshfield restoration artist breathes new life into antiques – The Patriot Ledger

MARSHFIELD Christine Clarke has spent decades honing design and maker skills across numerous disciplines,from painting and sculpting to upholstery andlost-wax casting.

Each of her varied skills can be seen throughout Thistledown Nest, herworkshop and showroom on Webster Street, from finished products to those just now getting new love and care.

A Kingston native, Clarke returned to the South Shore with her daughter last year from California's Bay Area, where she was sole proprietor of a decorative painting and design practice.

In a move that she described as very unusual for her, she rented the space she now occupies at 844 Webster St.unseen. Formerly a yoga studio, she quickly got to work transforming the purple, pink and light blue space into the perfect space for furniture restoration.

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"I had a vision and I just went to work," Clarkesaid. "I did it mostly all myself. I didn't bring a whole lot of stuff with me from California, so I just got to work."

No traces of the previous tenant remains. The space has reverted to arustic industrial style, with all attention focused on the intricate pieces dcor Clarke breathes new life into.

Even the structural columns in the space act as part of her portfolio. Previously bright and colorful, Clarke hand painted the vertical beams with a wood grain design indistinguishable from the real thing.

Many peoplewith good quality furniture have had it handed down from previous generations and don't know what to do with the pieces, Clarke said.They can be uncomfortable and out of date, or simply don't match the style of the current owners' space.

"People havepieces that are beautifulbut no one wants them because it isfilled with horse hair, it's not comfortable," Clarke said. "It's all dusty and dirty andit's too dark and heavy for modern homes."

Many of these pieces have sentimental value, she said, and while people don't want to get rid of them, they don't know how to incorporate them into their lives. That'swhere Clarke comes in.

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"What I really like to do is transform vintage things, furniture with good bones," she said."People like things light and bright, with more colors, more brightness. The old furniture that's hand carved and beautifully built just looks so heavy."

Clarke is able to pull from her decades of experience to identify the best ways to refinish or repurpose clients' pieces, from stripping down the finish and applying a new stain or paint color tofull re-upholstery with modern materials, molding and replacing missing trim or design elements. She can also adddecorative painting to match other elements in the room the piece will live in.

"You do have to be careful, because not every piece of furniture is worth that much elbow grease, but a lot are," she said."When you have something that's made of wood that's solid and hand carved, let's keep it out of the landfill, because it's better than the sawdust that you're buying from Wayfair."

Since receiving her BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Clarke has spent years working in the home design space, and her work can be seen across the country and even internationally.

She started out as a decorative painter, a career that ledher toworking in murals, bronze foundry, sculpting, mold making, restoration and decorative furniture work, as well as lost-wax casting,a method ofmetalcasting in which a molten metal is poured into amoldthat has been created by means of awaxmodel.She also restoredand refitted antique picture frames, pieces of art andupholstery.

She said she is particularly attracted to "the old world skill of it all."

Her time as a muralist included work at the Breakers Mansions in Newport, Rhode Island;multiple casinos in Las Vegas; P.F. Chang restaurants; and a hotel casino in Dubai.

Clarke said she has been busy with client work since openingofficially in October 2021, and is ideally working on a two- to three-month lead time. The style people want in their homes here differs from Californians, she said, and she's quickly adapting to this change.

"I'm trying to figure out what the area wants to see and how Ican best serve what people want," she said. "I hope to build into a business that sustains not just me, but a couple of other artisans and provides a service that people appreciate."

To see more examples of Clarke's work, visit thistledownnest.com.

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'Furniture with good bones': Marshfield restoration artist breathes new life into antiques - The Patriot Ledger