Leonie McKenzie
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leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Leonie McKenzie
@leonie-conservator.bsky.social
260 followers 540 following 89 posts
Collections assistant at Beck Isle Museum. Cardiff university alumni. Former secondary school science teacher. Enjoys outreach programmes. All views are my own.

https://linktr.ee/leoniemckenzie
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leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Had an incredible day at #CelebratingMuseums2025 with Museum Development North! The event was filled with insightful talks, and I'm still reflecting on the thought-provoking discussions. Excited to dive deeper into some of the key points raised and continue these conversations in the near future.
Screen showing welcoming sign for celebrating museums 2025, with a stained glass window behind it
March 13, 2025 at 8:20 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
#museumselfieday just little bit behind the scenes of the current project I'm working on. Here are a few items that have come out of the attic ready to be catalogued, rationalised and put into the store rooms.
A person with long brown hair and glasses on the left of the screen. Behind is a range of items both on the floor and on the table.
January 15, 2025 at 12:51 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Next was a small glass milk jug, this had been broken and only 7 large pieces remained. I cleaned these of surface dirt, adhered the pieces together and made fills to support the original pieces where there were low areas of surface contact. 3/ #conservation #conservator #heritage #moretocome
Green background, with a black rectangle in the middle. In that rectangle there is a flat lay of the 7 sherds of glass milk jug. They are white with a rose pattern over them. This is before conservation. Green background, with a black rectangle in the middle. In that rectangle there is an image of the reconstructed glass milk jug from two different angles. The glass milk jug is white with a rose pattern. This is after conservation.
November 15, 2024 at 9:42 AM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Starting with the non-archaeological. I worked on three painted leather rosettes. This involved cleaning off years of surface dirt, removing the old top coat and consolidating loose flakes of paint 2/
Green background. On the left is a large blue multilayer rosette with leather ribbons, on the right is a blue and red layered rosette. Both before conservation work. Green background. On the left is a large blue multilayer rosette with leather ribbons, on the right is a blue and red layered rosette. Both after conservation work.
November 15, 2024 at 9:42 AM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Earlier this month I started my first job in the museum world!! I'm not able to show much yet, but I can show my first curated exhibition case that's at the local library for showing the history of the market street!

#museum #heritage #newjob #communitymonth
A wooden and glass display case, showing photographs from the late 1890s-1950s ISH. Along with items that could be purchased from shops on the high street.
May 28, 2024 at 8:18 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
I'm happy to announce I have started a new role, collections assistant, at beck isle museum.

#firstday #NewJobAlert #NewJob #collections #collectionsassistant
In the top left hand corner is a close up image of a woman wearing classes with her hair tied back. The rest of the image is of a white front door in a Georgian building
May 13, 2024 at 6:13 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
How wonderful to see the #auroraborealis over our house! #northenlights #solarstorm #yorkshire
Large pink light area going diagonal across the image from top left to bottom right, surrounded by green light Large pink light area going diagonal across the image from top left to bottom right with trees shadowed just below, surrounded by green light Large burst of pink lights radiating from the centre of the picture Foreground shows a shadowed house on the right and trees across the bottom. Just above that is the northern lights, ranging from blues, green, pinks and purples
May 10, 2024 at 11:01 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Where it started to where it finished.

#DiggingForBritain 🏺 @CAERHeritage
#GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
After conservation, reconstructed bronze age pot with two styles of decoration near the rim 10 black trays with sherds of newly discovered bronze age ceramic on a wooden floor
February 9, 2024 at 3:32 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
The reconstruction of the #bronzeage #pottery was complete! Overall it took ~150 hours, more cotton swabs than is beliveable, a lot of patience and care, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment! I learnt a lot. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
complete reconstruction of pot, showing the full profile with decorations near the rim complete reconstruction of pot, showing the full profile with decorations near the rim and a large fill complete reconstruction of pot, showing the full profile with decorations near the rim and a large fill complete reconstruction of pot, showing the full profile with decorations near the rim
February 9, 2024 at 3:02 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Finally, the last of the inpainting could be done. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
white woman holding a paintbrush and painting onto the fills of the pot
February 9, 2024 at 3:00 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Next came more fills, this ended up being large fill for several reasons; to balance the pot so it doesnt fall over, the be able to insert pieces that did not adhere directly to others but fit in those spaces. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
part reconstructed pot, with pink wax layer behind and a white layer of plaster being used to make a fill part reconstructed pot, with pink wax layer behind and a white layer of plaster being used to make a fill
February 9, 2024 at 2:55 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
What a difference inpainting makes, the fills draw the eyes less and therfore the pot surface is the main focus, before and after pictures below. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
before image, shows large section of reconstructed pot with lighter brown fills between sherds before image, shows large section of reconstructed pot with darker brown fills between sherds, which blend in more with the surface of the pot
February 9, 2024 at 11:28 AM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
More time + more clamp stands + more sand hands + more sherds + more fills = one side of the pot built up from the base to rim #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
full profile of pot with some gaps and holes and one area of white fill
February 9, 2024 at 11:25 AM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
There was the majority of sherds missing the opposite side so after a while the pot became a little bit one-sided, to stop it falling over lots of sand hands were used to weigh down the base. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
centre of image is part reconstructed pot with lots of purple gloves holding the pot in the centre
February 9, 2024 at 11:22 AM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Several more hours of adhering and filling, more pot was reconstructed. Fills were necessary to give structural support between sherds with limited surface contact. Many sand hands and clamps were utalised at this time. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
centre of image is a part of a reconstructed pot with a purple hand in the middle of it centre of image is a part of a reconstructed pot centre of image is a part of a reconstructed pot with a clmap stand to the left holding sherds together
February 9, 2024 at 11:15 AM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
After the base was stable, I wanted to see hoe much of the pot was there, this involved many hands both of friends and of the sand variety. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
sherds of pot, unside down (the rim in is sat in a tray of sand), surrounded by purple gloves filled with sand 3 pairs of hands, holding different parts of the pot toghether to show how the sherds would fit together
February 9, 2024 at 11:10 AM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Once the base fill were completed, it was necessary to inpaint the fills, this intented to blend in the fills with the pottery surface but not make them disappear completely, to know what was original pot and what was fill. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
bottom of the base of the pot with some sherds on the bottom right inside of the base of the pot with some sherds surrounding the pot
February 9, 2024 at 11:06 AM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
It was important to find the most appropriate consolidant, this involved testing different substances on a mock pottery fabric. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
three pieces of air dry clay as mock bronze age pot surface in the centre of image with many bottles, jars, paintbrushes surrounding it
February 9, 2024 at 10:50 AM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Before I started consolidating, I wanted to try and replicate the decorations. With the help of Anna I made some cordage and pressed it into some clay. My nails were a little too long to replicate the horse-shoe decorations. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
circle of brown clay, with mulptiple impressions over the surface replicating those from the pot
February 8, 2024 at 9:30 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
After approximatley 140 hours of cleaning every sherd, it was nearly time to start the consolidation process. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
5 white trays each with multiple sherds of pottery on them
February 8, 2024 at 9:29 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
After lots more cleaning it became clear that the majority of the rim was there. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
multiple sherds of pottery on a white background, most are showing some decoration and the rim
February 8, 2024 at 9:25 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
Cleaning of some smaller sherds revealed more sections of the base, all bar a very small section of the base was found. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
right side of the photo shows the large section of the base of the pot found, with smaller sherds to the top left of the image
February 8, 2024 at 9:21 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
There was lots to discover about the pot during cleaning. In this case a sherd from a different pot with very similar decoration, although the impressions are close together, deeper and more square. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
sherd from this pot where the impressions are futher apart, more rounded and not as deep sherd from another pot showing impressions that are close together, deeper and more square
February 8, 2024 at 9:19 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
After many more hours of cleaning, the decoration of the surface of the pot became clearer. It often took the smallest of swabs to clean those tiny details. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
9 sherds of pottery laying flat showing two styles of decorations on a blue background
February 8, 2024 at 9:17 PM
leonie-conservator.bsky.social
It was interesting to look at the fabric of the bronze age pot under a microscope. I love seeing the colour different between the inside and outside. #diggingforbritain 🏺 @caerheritage #GLAM #museum #archaeology #conservation
cross section of bronze age pottery under the microscope cross section of bronze age pottery under the microscope cross section of bronze age pottery under the microscope
February 8, 2024 at 9:15 PM