Artist repairs apple sculpture

AN artist from Henley has spent five months restoring an apple sculpture donated to Henley by its German twin town.

The colourful apple, which weighs around 80kg, was first installed in Gravel Hill in 2012 after being donated by Leichlingen.

It features images of landmarks in the town, including Henley Bridge, Leander Club and Temple Island.

Heather Simpson, 57, who lives off Reading Road, Henley, a fine art restorer with 35 years of experience, took the apple to her studio in December to restore it to its original condition.

The leaf and stalk, which were first damaged not long after its installation, were held in storage while the sculpture remained on display. More recently, the sculpture had begun to deteriorate further, with paint peeling away in places.

Ms Simpson, who usually specialises in oil paintings and gilt frames, dried the apple for three months before beginning to work on it. She said: “It was a huge job because it had weathered really badly and a lot of the surface was missing and there was a hole in it from where the leaf and stalk were missing, so it was filled with water. I got it just before Christmas and dried it out for two to three months before I could work on it.”

She stabilised the apple by filling the hole with cement filler before sanding and attaching new metal for the leaf and the stalk, then hand-painting it to its original design.

Ms Simpson conducted tests with different types of paints and used a mural varnish to protect the design from UV light and from weathering.

She said the most challenging part of the restoration was the initial work to stabilise the sculpture.

Ms Simpson said: “I had to ensure I got a couple of pieces of metal in it that wouldn’t move by filling it and smoothing it all down. I didn’t realise that painting it with acrylic would be quite as challenging and detailed as it was.

“I had to repaint everything exactly as it was in the beginning, and a lot of it was missing. The council gave me a photo of when it was made in Germany, which included all the details.”

Ms Simpson said it was great to see it complete ahead of the Henley in Bloom judging tour on July 18. She said: “I’m not used to doing sculptures, so it did take longer than I thought, but it was great to see it finished as I did like the challenge.

“Compared to what it was like in the beginning, it was in a terrible mess, so to get it back to what it was like, the same as it was, I was really pleased with the end result.”

Kellie Hinton, who chairs the Bloom committee, said: “I’m really pleased the apple has been restored and very grateful to Heather for her artistic work.

“It’s a really delicate piece of public art so we need to appropriately maintain and care for it. It’s in a really nice position in town where people can sit quietly and enjoy the view of it. It’s lovely to see it back to its former glory.”