Restoration — CooperArts

Fire Restoration Job

May 17th 2026
Jessie Allen Cooper

Just after Christmas, 2025 I received a call from a man named Chris Watts (special effects film supervisor, Harry Potter, U2, Stallone, DeVito, etc.,) that I’d met and had done picture framing for in the past, circa 1995.

In our telephone conversation Chris started to tell me how his house in the Pasadena, Eagle Rock area had been in a fire (but not from one of the big fires,) and as the conversation continued, I was reminded of how I almost lost my cabin in Big Bear California years before, from a forest fire. The Pacific Palisades and Pasadena (the Eaton Fire,) fires had just happened eleven months before. I immediately felt empathetic about his situation.

It just so happened that I was planning a trip to LA to deliver art that I’d sold from my collection and to deliver art that I’d framed to a client in Irvine. In the conversation Chris told me that he’d lost some special pieces that his insurance company had already given him money for, but he had over twenty more pieces that needed to be re-framed and or restored. After going back and forth with him for a few days, I struck a deal with him to go to his home on January 8th and pick up the pieces we’d spoke about.

I rented a seven-seater SUV to accommodate a large load on the way back. Because I’m unfamiliar with the neighborhood where Chis lives, I had a long-time friend Brian Hanish and taxi driver go along to help as a navigator and help load the car. In preparation I brought a roll of plastic, packing tape and ten packing blankets to handle my packing needs. Picking up the art went as smoothly as could have been expected. Chris gave me a deposit and I then drove back to Beverly Wood where I was staying at my friend Ken Johnsons home.

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A group of pieces from unloading the car.

By the end of the week, I was back at my studio/shop, just north of Seattle with a car load of fire-smelly art. After unloading the thirty-one pieces into the shop, the next day I returned the rental car. I then started the job of analyzing and cleaning each piece, so I could decide what needs to be done with each object to bring them back to their original condition. It took ten days just to get to a-place where I could start the job giving each piece a number that was given to them when I picked them up. Each piece has a detailed job worksheet that serves as a roadmap from start to finish. While I was doing the job, I took lots of photos and made a detailed analysis on every part of the process. While doing the job, I was reminded of working in the museum vault at the Scirball Museum in LA (the documentation process was similar,) for two weeks fifteen years before.

The job was done during rainy winter conditions. Fortunately, the shop has a wood stove that works as a cozy way to heat and dispose of some of the damaged refuge while working on the job. I ended up using about one-third a cord of wood while restoring and re-framing the pieces. Many of the pieces have a special black finish that J. Cooper Picture Framing is known for, a finish that that I developed and have been using on jobs for over thirty years. The finish has an under coat that I do outside, fortunately around the middle of the job the temperature went up to 60 degrees for two days (which seemed like an act-of-God,) making the painting process possible.

The trip back went fairly smoothly. I rented a similar car used in the trip down to pick up the art, the pieces were stacked between packing blankets and cardboard, like making lasagna.

Each piece was numbered and wrapped in clear plastic. Chris gave the insurance company a good review on my job. Overall, I felt like I aced the job…

In reflection, the reason for this job summary and story is to share some examples of my work, my multifaceted picture framing and art restoration skills. And to let everyone know that after forty years working as a picture framer, I’m still standing…. I just finished the last two pieces, and made a shipping box that should ship out this week, making the total pieces in the job thirty-three…