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Have a true artist restore your cherished photos.

You want the very best for your valued photographs and artwork. With photo restoration, as with any other service, cut-rate restoration is likely to provide cut rate results.  Carol Hawkins' study of photography, history, & years as a portrait artist combine to produce a level of accuracy and attention to detail unsurpassed by others. All work is tenderly done with results that speak for themselves.  Carol treats each of your prints as if it were our own by giving cherished photos the attention to quality and workmanship they deserve. 

Many cut-rate companies outsource their photo restoration. Carol Hawkins Studio NEVER out sources. Your restoration work is lovingly, respectfully, and carefully carried out in Carol's studio.

Hawkins Studio uses only the finest printing processes available to achieve a beautiful outcome.  Carol recognizes that each print is a work of art.  Careful restoration process takes time and requires tender loving care. Rush jobs will incur additional charges.

Photo restoration, colorizing, manipulation, & enhancement services are available. Length of time required for repair varies depending on the amount of damage to the photo. Minor restoration may require only half an hour's work. Moderate damage requires an hour or more. Some photos benefit from extensive attention.

When areas of the photo are missing, the image will have to be rebuilt. This may be a time consuming effort. Sometimes so much detail has been lost either through fading, tears, or other damage, that painting a new image or portion of the image is required.

While recognizing that each client's photos are precious, Carol knows that everyone has budget restraints.  This makes communication between artist and client a top priority.  Together we ascertain the level of service each of your photos will require. Pricing is commensurate with the time required to accomplish the restoration. Minimum charges usually begin at about $125.00.

Hawkins Studio also does a some restoration work on paintings. A consultation is necessary to determine whether and to what degree Carol can improve the look and condition of your artwork.

Scroll down the page for examples of Carol Hawkins Studio's amazing. Photo and Artwork Restoration.  Click on images for a larger view.

A client brought this more than 200 yr. old painting of her ancestor, Margaret Stuyvesant of the New York Stuyvesants, to Carol.  The client hoped Hawkins could clean it without a hefty expenditure. Hawkins instead explained that she is not an art conservator.  The layers of darkened varnish would be difficult for even a person with a masters degree in conservation to remove without damaging the underlying painting.  Carol can do very gentle cleaning and amazing reconstructions but she recommends that a valuable painting be taken to a conservator.   Such work is quite expensive, however, and this client didn't have several hundred dollars to spend.  She simply wanted to get an idea of what her ancestor looked like.  So Carol scanned the image and produced this amazing image by "forensic" manipulation of the scan.  Seeing a lot more amazing details therein she would have liked to have been able to "clean it up" a lot more but everyone has a budget and Hawkins will work with each client to stay within their budget.


Before restoration the passing years and damage in
storage had rendered this boy's eyes almost invisible.
The image was faint and stained.


After 3 hours restoration the client's family can see
what their grandfather looked like as a boy.


Not all restorations require heroic measures.


This dapper gentleman's photograph only needed
to have stains removed and tint restored.


This family heirloom colorized photograph had
been damaged by time, insects, and water.


The restored image is a lovely
work of art.


The photograph's original wood and plaster
frame had also been severely damaged.


Hawkins Studio restored the frame.
along with the precious photograph .

Many people would have thrown the two irreplaceable old photos, above left, in the trash believing they could never been restored.
 Fortunately, the client brought them to us for heroic restoration. Hawkins Studio's careful and loving restoration work speaks for itself!
This colorized photographic portrait of a young woman not only has been damaged by scratches and fading but it has been torn into 3 pieces. Large portions of the portrait are missing. Carol has completed the first part of the restoration of this photograph. She has matched the pieces together, repaired most of the scratches, and has improved the colorization of the photograph.

This young woman was a relative of a foreman of the famous King Ranch in south Texas. Her portrait was in 3 pieces
with major areas missing. Carol restored the photo by piecing the sections together & repairing all traces of the tears.
The client was so delighted with the restoration result that he asked her to paint in the lost areas.

This is the amazing final photo restoration of the image seen above, left and right. Carol used the one other photograph that the family had of this lovely woman to complete the bottom portion of her face. The photo Carol used was taken many years later than this photograph. To completing this restoration required that Carol use her artistic skill, extensive human drawing experience, and knowledge of anatomy to age regress the woman's face and complete this miraculous restoration.
This is the absolutely amazing final restoration of the image seen above left and right. Carol used the one other photograph
that the family had of this lovely woman to complete the bottom portion of her face. The photo Carol used was taken many
years after this photograph. Completing this photo restoration required Carol's use of artistic skill, extensive human drawing
experience, and knowledge of anatomy to age regress the woman's face and complete this miraculous restoration.

The photograph of this young couple has been severely damaged by fading, tears, and scratches. Some scratches and fading are so severe that part of the man's face has been obliterated.

This photo has a fair amount of damage. Some sections are
severely scratched. The man's mouth is two-thirds gone
and the couple's eyes are faded and faint.

The same photograph after Carol's extensive restoration. Fading and scratches have been repaired. Carol has even "forged" the missing parts of the young man's missing eye and mouth.

Thankfully, the client had another photograph of this man so that Carol was able to see what his mouth looked like & paint it into the photo. Extensive restoration was preformed on this photograph. The edges
of the photo have been left irregular and worn looking intentionally.
After all, it IS a very old photo. Why make it look like a new one?

This photograph has been severely damaged by fading, stains, scratches, and portions of the photo are missing.

Many photos in this condition have been thrown away.
While restoring the photo, Carol found treasure buried in it
. Investing hours in a heroic rescue restoration she repaired the stains and scratches and "forged" a replacement for the missing section. A prominent South Texas family was able to see the
portrait of their great-grandmother for the first time.

The same photograph of woman and child after Carol's extensive photo restoration work.

Extensive photo restoration revealed the young woman's beautiful dress as an entirely crocheted work of art. The black & white checkerboard style shoulders resemble a miniature shawl edged
with fringe. At the waist and along the skirt are crocheted rosettes.
A ruffled dress & crocheted headband revealed that the small child
was a precious little girl.
What a wonderful gift this restored photo is for the whole family!

Severely damaged, by flaking paint, stains, and fading, this unusual portrait looked hopeless. The photograph was taken in the 1940s. It was glued to a carved wooden bust type form and attached to a carved circular frame.

This very interesting piece was brought to Carol in extremely damaged condition. The photograph, taken in the 1940s, was glued to a carved wooden "bust" form & attached to the carved circular frame which can be either hung on a wall or set on a table.

Colorized photographic portrait of young woman after extensive painstaking restoration.

Thankfully this family had other photos of their pretty mother. Carol was able to see the features, imagine them at a different angle, & hand-paint them on the old photograph. The family is thrilled.

The main limitations in restoration work are the condition of the material on which the image is produced & lack of reference material.

This image of the 1940s portrait after repair shows the lovely unusual frame.

This photo, taken after the photo repair, shows off the lovely unusual frame of this 1940s image.


This Florida family was photographed
with their fine matched pair of mules.


The family were pleased with the results of the
partial restoration work which included removing
many scratches and replacing one mule's ear.
Carol would have enjoyed doing more
extensive restoration but everyone has a budget.

This was a 1970s Polaroid picture.  The quality and
detail of Polaroid wasn't very good and this image has
additionally suffered damage due to the passage of time.

The image after 4.5 hours of restoration work.

This was the favorite photograph the client had of his
beloved deceased wife.  He wanted the photo colorized
in the style of the era in which it was taken.

This is the finished product colorized in authentic 1940s style.
Note the pride with which this lovely WWII veteran displays her wings.

Photo of toddler at the University of Texas' married student housing called Brackenridge Apartments.

The toddler in this picture is sitting on the steps of her home
at Brackenridge Apartments, the University of Texas'
married student housing. The photograph was taken in 1947.

Picture of toddler after approximately 90 minutes of restoration work.

The same photograph after 90 minutes of restoration work.



You probably won't recognize these young women ...



... but the we all know the music they wrote.