Surface Damage and Airport Dress Rehearsal

Marks imprinted on varnish caused by plastic wrapping
adhering to surface.

I learned last week the unfortunate news that a painting that I had shipped off to an exhibition arrived at the venue with damage caused by the packaging materials. I felt for the exhibition’s director since that must be very difficult news to tell an artist. Fortunately it was quickly determined that the damage was only affecting the varnish and not the paint surface. I've never experienced this problem before, in all my years of shipping artwork, and it wasn’t an issue for another painting that was varnished at the same time and wrapped and shipped at the same time, in the same way.

Although it was generously offered to have restoration performed, I think that artists make the best conservators of their own work. I also know the peace of mind of seeing with one’s own eyes what the problem is and getting it solved.

Plans were put into place for me to fly there and remove the damaged varnish prior to installation.

When the travel day arrived I was up bright and early, supplies packed; lint free cloths, gloves, etc., at the airport and beginning the checking in procedure only to find that the kiosk wouldn’t accept my reservation. To make a long story short, I had been sent to the wrong terminal and by the time I got the information and got to the correct terminal, the check in “window” was closed. The airlines (there were multiple airlines involved, hence the confusion about which terminal) made it right in the end, but it meant flying out the next day instead. So I went home and rescheduled cat sitter, dog boarding, rental car, and accommodations and repeated the entire departing procedure again the following day, except with better knowledge of which terminal to show up to.

Shadow box to hold any protective wrapping
away from the surface.

The remainder of the trip was uneventful. The exhibition manager and staff were amazing; providing solvent, drop cloth, encouragement, and a well ventilated, quiet place to work. The repair went well and the surface was even and without plastic imprints when I finished. I am glad that I used Gamvar for the varnish because it removes easily with oderless mineral spirits or Gamsol. These are fairly weak solvents that mean it is easy to remove the varnish without affecting the paint at all.

The packing solution? It’s been suggested that crates can be built that support the artwork with screws fastened into the sides of the stretcher bars that hold the artwork suspended during shipping so that nothing touches the surface. The drawbacks are the weight, time, and expense. Another solution is to build a cardboard “shadow box” that keeps any protective wrapping an inch or two away from the painting surface.

Installation Day at Palm Springs Fine Art Fair

I'm back from Palm Springs and the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair. I'm exhausted, however I had a really good experience. I'll post all about it over the next few days, starting with the arrival and set up.

Meeting up at our booth on installation day.

                         
The first day was a long day. I loaded up my car the night before so I was ready to leave in the morning. It's helpful that everything fit with the exception of one large painting that came in a truck. The truck made stops for the other three artists, so most of us arrived well before the artwork did.

Discussing wall plans while waiting for the truck to arrive.

We weren't allowed to begin until noon and had to leave the building by 9 pm. We wanted to get everything set up on the 13th so that the installers didn't have to stay overnight. The truck also had a two hour drive and three stops to load between 50 - 100 pieces of artwork.

When the truck still hadn't arrived by 3 pm we started getting nervous. At 3:30 it arrived and by 7:30 everything was unloaded, laid out, and either hung on the wall or placed in the storage room. The storage area turned out to be a great benefit. It was easy to get to and retrieve additional pieces to show people and to replace paintings that were sold and removed.

Ladders, crates, and tool kits everywhere, plus the sound of power drills. 

I was happy that the floors had carpeting and that the booths were spacious. Ours was 10 x 24 feet and the walls were 12 feet high. I'm also so grateful we were able to work with professional art handlers that made installing everything look easy. They made quick work of it and then headed back to L.A. while at last we went searching for food!

New Year, New Waves, and Artwork Shipping

Wave Triptych work in progress ©2011 Katherine Kean

I've had the desire to make larger artwork, and I also appreciate convenience, which may be why I've been looking at making modular artwork, such as triptychs and diptychs, as they are called when placed side by side. When they are stacked one above the other it is simply called a modular piece.

Size is a consideration, not only in storage, but also in shipping. There are size restrctions to what can be shipped through UPS, FedEx, and the USPS. There are also insurance limits. Fedex will only insure up to $500.00 and UPS up to $1,000.00. The US Postal Service does not seem to have the same qualms about insuring artwork for shipment.

I recently sent artwork across the country and chose USPS just for this reason. I got a strongbox from the Airfloat company. This is basically an art/mirror box such as those sold at Uline, but Airfloat had the better price.

It is a lined box with perforated foam that is easy to cut to conform to the artwork, so that the art rides in a cushioned support. I ordered the version that has a reinforced lining to resist punctures. The boxes are strong and lightweight and reusable. Between the strongbox and the insurance I had confidence. I needed that confidence when soon after the box was picked up it mysteriously dropped out of the tracking system and for two days was "lost."

I've had a history of ups and downs with the Postal Service. Once, I was told that my 4 1/4 x 6" postcard announcements were too big, resulting in a surreal tug of war across the counter as I tried unsuccessfully to take them back. Another time the mailman could not find my house to deliver a package and so just dropped it by the side of the road. On the upside every claim I've ever had has been settled swiftly and completely.

In this case I called customer service and got trapped in one of those voicemail loops where the system kept asking for the label number; which when entered instructed me to contact the sender, which happened to be me. It was a voice system and I ended up yelling "No!" and "Help!" at every option, another surreal moment until an actual person eventually picked up and took down my information.

As the day wore on and the package was not found I was having very negative thoughts and not sure what to do. As it became evening I decided that there wasn't much I could do, at least not until the next day and so I put the Post Office, labels, tracking, and insurance out of my mind. Around 8:30pm the phone rang. It was the Post Office, calling to say not to worry. No, they hadn't found my package, but were sure it would turn up soon. It was suggested that I call the Post Office on the other end and ask if they'd seen it. This seemed a little too easy but this is exactly what I did the next day. Miraculously, or so it seemed at this point, they had all the label and tracking info, told me it was on the truck and would be delivered momentarily, and it was.

Will I use USPS again for shipping? It looks like I will, at least for anything valued at over $1,000.00. Have you ever shipped artwork? If so, what service did you use and what shipping materials, and was it a good experience?