WAILUA — With a view of the Sleeping Giant from his home studio, Mark Nilsson carefully and meticulously restores dingy, broken, chipped or cracked antiques. Items of value — both monetary and sentimental — do not have to be lost
WAILUA — With a view of the Sleeping Giant from his home studio, Mark Nilsson carefully and meticulously restores dingy, broken, chipped or cracked antiques.
Items of value — both monetary and sentimental — do not have to be lost because of wear and tear, he said.
From dishes to pottery, ceramics and lamps, Nilsson has spent the last 11 years giving new life to damaged possessions.
“Everybody basically has something that has been broken and they don’t want to throw it away,” he said, “… but they don’t know it can be repaired.”
An artist with a graphic arts and illustration degree from Brigham Young University, Nilsson’s work studio is filled with oil and gouache paintings.
Some are his — detailed nature scenes as well as abstract experiments with vibrant colors; and some are family heirlooms.
Nilsson pointed to two portraits painted by his great-grandfather on the circular bottoms of wooden barrels in the 1800s.
Side by side, the two men’s artwork shares a mastery of color and a resourcefulness.
“I do have it in my genetics,” Nilsson said.
Looking closely at a mended ceramic lamp sitting in the studio, the naked eye can’t tell where the old ends and the new begins. Using his five-step process, Nilsson glued together the broken pieces, filled in the chips with a ceramic filler that hardens, sanded the surface smooth, mixed and applied bamboo green paint to seamlessly blend with the original color, and glazed the repaired area to match the lamp’s overall matte appearance.
“That’s where being an artist is really helpful,” he said of custom blending paints, noting that the most challenging colors to match are shades of yellow and white.
Mixing colors was always a strength of his and one of the reasons he got into the business by helping his mother at her antique shop, Nilsson said.
More than a decade ago, he took a class and branched out to work with antique dealers in Colorado. In order for shops to sell restored items, they have to be almost perfect, he said.
While he mostly works with smaller items, Nilsson occasionally takes on furniture with nicks or scrapes.
But even with glues and paints imported from England, clear glass is tough to repair. He said the cracks can be filled, but they remain visible.
Since moving to Kaua‘i in December, Nilsson has expanded his business to include just about anything his clients find worth repairing — even a broken Troll doll.
He also works with local consignment and antique shops such as Keiki Cottage in Kapa‘a and Bambulei in Wailua.
There’s not as great a demand for his craft here, but as the only restorer on the island, Nilsson said he is happy to provide the service.
An added bonus: Restoration is one way to foster sustainable living, which is a concept Nilsson decided to pursue further with the move to Kaua‘i.
Prices for repairs range from $15 for a single item on up — purposely “affordable for anyone who wants to get something fixed,” he noted.
On the best part of his job, Nilsson said it’s returning treasured items to his customers: “Someone can break something and be heartbroken and I can … fix it and they are elated.”
