Oops! The Boxed Painting Won't Fit in the Car!

The Certainty of Youth and the Complexity of Wisdom, including the frame size is 49x43 and too big to fit in any of the StrongBoxes I had on hand, first problem encountered! 

Backing up a moment - When shipping work first I wrap my paintings in Dartek, a plastic I've had great luck with. It is an archival museum product made by University Products. I find that it works great to keep foam and dust from getting on the work. I would caution that it's best to experiment with your particular varnish. I always try to varnish at least a week before the work is shipped so it's not green.

Then they are put in Airfloat System StrongBoxes, which have a puncture resistant liner and foam so the work doesn't move at all. They are expensive but reusable and I've had great luck shipping with them. They are lighter weight for shipping than a plywood crate so you will save in the end on shipping costs. 

Meanwhile back to the problem at hand - we opened up one end of my largest StrongBox and made the box bigger by canibalizing other boxes we had on hand. Ok, this is gonna work.

Then...As we are building the box we realize IT'S too big to fit in my Mazda CX 7. At this point I have already delivered four boxes to FedEx and paid for a shipping label for this fifth box and time is of the essence. FedEx had given me a deal on shipping the five boxes as a multi-piece shipment.

It seemed too complicated to try to arrange a pick up of the work so we took all the parts down to FedEx and assembled the package there.

EXTREME amounts of Extreme packing tape and many FRAGILE stickers later I finally said goodbye to my diptych.

Now I know my absolute width size limit if I'm going to haul the work to FedEx myself. Wondering, will these years be known as the Mazda years? Someone in this family really needs to buy a truck.

I'm happy to say all the work arrived safely in Santa Fe at the Peterson-Cody Gallery for my show which will open next Friday, Nov, 4, 2011.

Here are few links you might find helpful: Dartek Film,
Airfloat StrongBox  

Here's a previous post I did about  The Certainty of Youth and the Complexity of Wisdom. 

Here are a couple others about shipping art work. Good luck!

Fortunate To Be At Robert Lange Studios

Chinese proverbs found in the tradition of fortune cookies inspired the premise of this group show in Charleston, SC. The show is built around "Brilliant" work, Jonathan Brilliant that is, and his Field of Good Fortune Series.

One of Jonathan's large metal sculptures will be in the center of the gallery and Robert Lange Studios' artist's and invited guest artists work, based on the theme, will hang around it on the walls.

Framed beside each work of art will be the tiny fortune cookie proverb that is linked to the piece. I thrilled to be showing again with the wonderful artists at RLS!

Oracle, 30x22, charcoal and pastel on paper

Oracle's fortune cookie proverb

Oracle appeared in American Artist's Drawing Magazine in it's Winter 2011 issue in an article entitled Forming the Figure by Ken Proctor.

Shipping a drawing that is already framed and under glass is always tricky, but she made the journey just fine. The glass was taped and she was wrapped in multiple layers of foam and bubble wrap. Thank you Fed Ex! Here's another post I did about shipping art.

I'm working on my second newsletter, and if you haven't signed up and would like to you can subscribe here.

A journey by sea and land, five hundred miles, is not undertaken without money. ~Lewis Hallam

Of course it was more like 1300 miles and not really across the sea but you get the drift. Yikes! These boxes are expensive but the paintings traveled well and arrived unharmed and safely delivered to Peterson-Cody Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico by FedEx ground.

The boxes are "Strongboxes" and can be purchased from Airfloat Systems. They have a liner that is as puncture resistant as 3/4 inch plywood and foam padding all around that  you can custom cut to fit the work.

The paintings were wrapped in Dartek film that I first learned about from the Mobile Museum of Art when they shipped one of my paintings back to me wrapped in the stuff. It doesn't stick to the varnish in my experience. It can be purchased from University Products.

I taped the boxes shut with EXTREME amounts of Scotch "Extreme Tape", loaded them in the back of my Mazda and headed off to the local FedEx office, where I turned them over to a very nice man and held my breath for the next four days.

Shipping work across country is not for the faint of heart!