b'in the canMy passion in art conservation started incarefully matching the heritage colours to onesWhile the precise arrangement of colours was highschoolfromlisteningtothefascinatingfrom the Resene range. very slightly altered through client consultation lessons held by the archaeology teacher, butThe main tool we used for the project wastoconformtothecontemporaryappearance IactuallystartedstudyingarchitecturefirsttheLateVictorianandEdwardianheritageof the building, Carolina says the colour scheme before I moved to Florence, says Carolina. colourschemethatArchitectIanBowmannow present on the dome is true to the hues Most recently, both her passion for architecturecreatedincollaborationwithResene.Thisthat would have appeared there originally. The and expertise with heritage buildings was put tocolour range guided most of the reconstructioncolours were carefully chosen from the Resene use during the restoration of the Oamaru Operaof the original hues with the aim of restoring therange to closely resemble the original Victorian House. She and her team at Studio Carolinadomes original appearance as closely as possible.era hues of the Oamaru Opera House dome, Izzo were brought in to assist with restoring theThe first part of the treatment consisted of awith pink tones Resene Sand, Resene Cashmere original appearance of the theatres dome. Theystratigraphic analysis of each distinct decorativeand Resene Bowman alternating with white tones worked with Waitaki District Council and carriedelementtodeducetheoriginalpaintcoloursResene Spanish White and Resene Triple White outresearchwithassistancefromOamaruand composition. The challenge was to find thePointertocreateaharmoniouscomposition Opera House Director Frances McElhinney tooriginal colour scheme where the only visiblethat has restored three-dimensionality to the investigate how the dome would have lookedreference was the repainted green palette. stuccodecorations.Thesehueswerethen when the building first opened in 1907.Another challenge was the projects tightrepeated throughout all the decorative sections Oneofthefirstdiscoverieswasthattheschedule, as the work had to be completed into maintain continuity and consistency.palette that audiences had become accustomedunder five weeks in order to fit around scheduledManyvisitorsweresurprisedbythe toinrecentdecadeswasnotinthedomesperformances.Theceilingwaspreparedintonality they saw once the original palette was original hues and did not fit with the style ofadvance so that, once the team of experts fromreinstated, since most of the restored colours the structure. The interior had been repaintedCarolinas studio arrived, they could get stuckhad far subtler values than those in the previous several times. The green and white EdwardianintothepaintingusingResenecoloursandrepainting.Asthisworkisonlyonepartof coloursthatwereinthedomebeforetheapplying new gold and silver leaf. returningtheOamaruOperaHousecloser restorationbeganwereappliedsometimeOncethecolourinvestigationshadbeentoitsoriginalappearance,chancesarethere during the second half of the 20th century. Theperformed,allthesurfacesofthedomecould be more surprises still in store. But luckily, afteralreadyhavingworked20yearsinItaly.original colours, however, dated back to the verythatweretoberepaintedwerepreparedthankstoitscarefulrestorationandfresh However,Igotbored.Thetimingcoincidedearly 1900s. In full Victorian fashion, they weremechanicallywithabrasivepaper.Dustwascoats of high-performance Resene primer and withwhenTePapawaslookingforapaintingcharacterised by pink and white tones alongsideremovedbeforetheundercoatofResenetopcoats, the domes rejuvenated appearance conservator, so I applied for the job. I worked theregilded elements, explains Carolina. QuickDryprimerwasapplied.Duringthiscan be enjoyed for many years to come. from 2002 until 2008, then I resigned with theThe domes style of decoration is known asphase, some missing and damaged decorative desire to become my own manager again, as I wasEdwardian Baroque and similar elements haveelements were reconstructed using araldite andTo learn more about Carolina and her teams for two decades in Italy. The main driver for thisbeenusedthroughoutGreece,Romeandplaster to restore the integrity of the surfaceextraordinary art and heritage conservation work,was the opportunity to meet the community andnorthernEuropequiteoftenintheatres.before the decoration started, says Carolina. visit www.studioizzo.co.work on different sites. I was able to collaborateCarolinasaystheOperaHousesbeautiful with artists such as Billy Apple, Robyn White,detailswereofveryhighquality.Itsvery Stephen Burberry, Jim Allen and more. special, so we wanted to bring back the original Carolina continues to work with a range of artintention of the architect.professionalsbothnationallyandinternationallyTo figure out which colours were first used, from her studios in Wellington and Auckland whilethey started by testing samples of the paint. also working as a teaching associate at VictoriaA key hint that the visible colours werent the University of Wellington. If that wasnt impressiveoriginalpalettewasthatonlygoldleafwas enough,shealsodirectslargeandsmall- discovered whenbecause of the structures scaleconservationworkonheritagebuildingsvintagethey would have also expected to see throughout New Zealandwhich allows Carolinasilver.Afterfurthermeticulousinvestigation,before afterto dabble in an adjacent interest, architecture. they uncovered the original hues and set about blackwhitemag.com 23'