Here’s a recent example of the way I ship large paintings to my collectors. This spring I created a set of 24 by 36 inch (60.96 by 91.44 centimetre) acrylic paintings on stretched professional canvas for a debut exhibition at the Brontë Birthplace. They were inspired by the text of Emily Brontë’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights and her world on the Yorkshire moors. I absolutely loved creating these paintings and was delighted when this one, And Melancholy Softness, sold to a customer in the USA.
This meant international shipping was necessary and I needed to pack this painting very securely to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The best way to do this was to remove the painting from the wooden stretcher bars it’s attached to. It’s also common to ship paintings in boxes or crates but mailing tubes are a very good option because they take less space and there is less damage risk to the wooden stretcher bars.
I prised the staples out of the wood until the painting was completely detached. Then I carefully rolled it up inside protective glassine paper, which is grease and water resistant, and taped it off. Next I rolled it in a layer of bubble wrap and gently put it into an Art Grade mailing tube. Choosing an Art Grade tube was important because the cardboard is extra thick and more crush proof than other tubes. For this shipment I needed to cut the tube down from its AO size to make a nice custom fit. I put in a little extra padding at the top and bottom, sealed it up firmly and off it went with a well known international courier. It arrived in perfect condition which is always excellent news.
But that wasn’t the end of the painting’s journey. Its next stop was a local framer’s shop to be stretched back onto wooden stretcher bars. I always help my customers to find the right framer near them if they don’t have someone they work with. Getting this last stage done properly is paramount. If you are wondering about cost, my customers pay to restretch the canvas but it is generally offset by the cheaper cost of shipping internationally in a mailing tube.
If you are new to shipping paintings in mailing tubes, here is a useful video from artist Rachel Froud that explains the process from start to finish.
And if you’d like to see what paintings I have available for purchase, feel free to visit my shop and see what exhibitions I have coming up.