Phoenix Art Restoration in Shoreline Brings Life Back to Damaged or Broken Works of Art.

Walking into the expansive 8,000 square foot workshop of Shoreline’s Phoenix Art Restoration one might find a 17th century portrait restored and carefully cleaned, a marble sculpture leaning against the wall waiting to for a new arm, or an ancient clay jar from the middle ages carefully conserved.

After seeing all of that, one might not expect to find grandma’s favorite porcelain pottery or an armature painting that got punctured in a move waiting for repair.

“We do not discriminate. Whether it’s something the cat broke or a valuable portrait, everything is treated with equal care,” explains owner Daniel Zimmerman. 

Zimmerman was a National Scholastic Award recipient in high school for mixed media artwork and he studied painting and sculpture in college. He’s had many mentors over the years to help him develop his skills.

“One of my favorite mentors was a traditional Orthodox Iconographer by the name Collete M. Kalvesmaki,” he says.

These days, he is not only a skilled artist but has taken on the role of businessman. Phoenix Art Restoration opened five years ago in a small space across from his current location at 17521 15th Ave NE, in Shoreline.

Since then, the business has grown tremendously. Zimmerman credits a lot of his success to the fact he doesn’t work in one medium or take on only specific restoration projects. If he were to only take in the most precious or valuable pieces he probably wouldn’t have nine employees and two locations, one in Shoreline and one on Capitol Hill.

“My work days are spent teaching, serving customers, and doing our most demanding restorations, as well as taking care of the paperwork required to run a business,” he says.

Zimmerman and his employees have many skills and offer a lot for their customers including Frame Restoration, Custom Finishes, Custom Framing, Porcelain and Ceramic, Paper Restoration, Painting Restoration, Fire & Flood Restoration, and Glass Sculpture.

 The name Phoenix Art Restoration doesn’t tell the whole story. Conservation is also a very important part of Zimmerman’s business. Most people think of environmental conservation and Zimmerman didn’t want to confuse people by adding the word to his business name, he says.

“Conservation is so important,” Zimmerman says.

He and his team cannot add or restore color in many pieces, especially paper and cloth. Once color is gone, it’s gone forever. Repainting something would be restorative. Conservation is much less invasive. The process involves careful solvent cleaning. Some pieces are cleaned mechanically but generally pieces are cleaned under a microscope using small brushes. Zimmerman’s goal is to not wreck what is left.

“I really love what I do,” he says.

The hardest challenge for him is not the actual day in and day out work of the business but making sure he spends adequate time with his family.

“I try to be home at 6:30 every night,” he says.

Running a business doesn’t always allow him to have such freedom, but he’s says he's doing his best to please not only his customers but his family too, and it’s all a balancing act that will never be perfect and never boring.