#art storage

I've worked out a system for packing away pastel artwork. Anything smallish can go in a plastic envelope with a sheet of glassine paper over it, but for larger works, I make a sandwich out of mat board, which is thick cotton board that is used to mount artwork or photos for framing. The pastel goes in the middle of this sandwich, protected by a sheet of glassine paper.

Since this pastel was really large--45x40in (114x102cm)--making the board sandwich for it was A Thing. Mat board generally comes in sheets 40x32in large; larger sizes like 60x40in or even 72x48, 96x48, 104x60in exist, but Fedex/UPS won't deliver those; they have to come in a truck. That's hundreds of dollars in shipping costs, so instead of shelling out for 60x40s I ordered a bunch of 40x32s, cut a couple in half and taped the halves to the wholes to make larger sheets. I then layered two sheets on top of one another, taping them together around the edges, with the joins in individual sheets on opposite ends so the whole thing wouldn't fold where I'd taped a half sheet to a full sheet.

Multiply that by two, and I have my mat board sandwich. I take one last look at Novak and the ballkid, close the sandwich, then slide it into a massive plastic envelope made out of two 40x30in clear bags.

Every work I pack away like this gets its little label.

Not to be dramatic, but it feels like putting the artwork in a bodybag. I don't know when it'll ever come out of this plastic-wrapped sandwich. Getting it into this sandwich to begin with is such a pain in the ass that I can only foresee taking it out to frame it, for myself or if someone buys it. And when might that be? Who knows.

Daniil and the physio being packed away a couple of years ago. They haven't been out of their plastic-wrapped sandwich since, either.

This is one source of motivation to take on oil painting, which I made some forays into last year. Compared to pastels, oil paintings take much longer to complete and are way fussier; just preparing the painting surface is an absolute headache and can be a months-long process, if you're starting from stretching/mounting and priming the canvas yourself.

But a properly painted oil painting is indestructible. Indeed, you can't put a finished oil painting into a dark closet somewhere; the linseed oil binder used in the paints will turn yellow in the dark. Oil paintings have to stay out in good light; they demand to be in a place where they can be seen.

I have a couple from last year which I haven't shared, but are in my living/art studio area slowly curing before they get varnished (you have to wait 6-12 months after painting them to do that). They're not my best work--I haven't yet gotten the hang of oils the way I feel I've gotten the hang of pastels--but it's definitely nice being able to look at them whenever I want.