Pastel Talk

FRAMING

A frame should complement the painting, not distract the viewer's eye from it. If the frame does more than the painting, if it has more texture, color, contrast, or detail, it will compete with the painting. Keep the frame simple and in a similar style as the painting.

The frame should be sturdy enough to support the weight of the whole package without bowing. Metal frames are suited to smaller pieces, but often aren't adequate for large paintings.

Choose a frame with a rabbet deep enough to accommodate the painting. The depth of this space at the back of the frame needs to accommodate the glass, matted painting and backboard, with room for framer's points or nails to hold it in place.

One idea that makes framing a simple matter is to install turnbuttons on the back of the frame so that you may easily frame or unframe the painting. Once you have the sandwich of glass, matted painting and backboard (see section on storage under passé partout) putting it into or removing it from a frame with turnbuttons is quick and easy.

The width of a frame and mat should not be equal. Wide wooden frames have been shown lately, with or without mats. Narrow wood or metal frames are acceptable. For a portrait, the width of the frame should not be equal to the width of the head; it should be wider or narrower.

The frame color should not compete with the color of the painting. Choose neutrals, such as gold or silver, natural woods or 'quiet' colors. The frame ought not to be lighter than the lightest light in the painting or darker than the darkest dark.

In competitions we believe it's best to keep things simple and neutral. Framing influences jurors, and although there are some who can exclude the frame from consideration, we feel far more of them react negatively to bad frame choices.

STORAGE

In the course of our discussion a few things questions arose, in particular how to store finished paintings before framing them. The most common method is to store them taped securely to a Fomecor board or in a newsprint pad, covered with a layer of vellum, glassine, tracing paper, acetate, or other paper. Most important is that the cover be fastened in such a way that it doesn't shift and smear the work. Another possibility is to store your paintings in a flat file with glassine sheets as interleaving, securely clipped together to keep them from smearing. Note: Although waxed paper looks a lot like glassine, in a hot climate the wax can melt onto the pastel, causing irreparable harm!

Many artists us the passé-partout method of storing paintings in which the mounted and matted pastel is fitted with a piece of glass or Plexiglas matching the outside measurement of the painting, and taped together with a strip of acid-free framers tape. This tidy package allows you to store the piece vertically or horizontally, and can be quickly and easily framed or sold ready-to-frame. A modified form of this method is to mount and mat your painting, then cover it with a piece of Fomecor cut to size and taped carefully in place.

SHIPPING

Airfloat Strongboxes are made especially for shipping paintings and we agree that they are safe and easy to use, providing foam padding inside the box surrounding the painting. These boxes come with three spongy polyurethane foam pads, the middle one of which is perforated in a grid so that the artist may remove the inside of it to create a window that accommodates the exact size of the painting. The top and bottom layers are convoluted, forming peaks and valleys, which allows the artwork to remain suspended while it rests on these peaks. The boxes are available in several sizes and are easily opened and closed. Additionally, the lined box has a plastic liner laminated to the inside top and bottom which provides it with the puncture resistance of 3/8" plywood without the added weight of a wooden crate. The major shipping companies have approved all the boxes for use, and UPS will ship paintings under glass in them.

Another product available from Airfloat is Glasskin, a low-tack tape 12 inches wide used to cover the glass when shipping a painting. This assures that if there is damage to the glass it won't shatter and cut the paper, further damaging the painting. Some artists have crisscrossed tape across the glass, but remember that gallery directors or show organizers must then spend valuable time carefully scraping tape off the glass!

Crating is always another option for shipping paintings, but we have found it to be exceptionally expensive and not often warranted by the value of the work. Another less expensive alternative is to use a mirror box for shipping, but it's necessary to pad with layers of cardboard, foam pads or peanuts, and shipping companies will often require you to open the box before they ship it.

One key topic that arose from the discussion on shipping work was insurance and the subsequent need, if the painting should be damaged, to prove its value. Most of the major shipping companies in the U.S. will insure the paintings by living artists, but regulations seem to change from time to time. UPS currently insures for the value of the artwork, which may be proven by producing a bill of sale or a track record of sales of similar work in a similar size. Our best advice: do your homework ahead of shipping and don't forget to ask about insurance and claims.

MISCELLANEOUS

Two issues were raised during our discussions that seem to be points of interest to most pastelists. First, and clearly an issue that will not be resolved by this panel, is that of fixative. While many pastelists avoid the use of fixative, treating it as tantamount to desecration of the artwork, most of us have found need to use it occasionally or have at least experimented with its use. The fixative of choice by members of the panel who use fixative at all was Lascaux. Mention was made of one artist who literally vacuums paintings to remove excess pastel from the surface, though this innovative idea needs more exploration before our panel will endorse it.

We feel strongly that no one but the artist who painted it should ever spray fixative on a painting! Horror stories of framers who sprayed without asking abound. Interview framers to make sure they are familiar with framing unfixed pastels and ask about the reputation of framers before employing them.

The second issue that was raised was that of dry mounting paper or finished paintings. Some felt that dry mounting devalued the art and should never be done, while others disagreed with this point of view. Our final consensus of opinion was that it is up to the artist to decide what is acceptable. One caveat: archival issues can sometimes be carried to extremes, to the detriment of the time put into the art. Perhaps as artists our primary focus should be on the art, while details of conservation should be left to the museums.

HOW TO MAT, FRAME AND SHIP

A PASTEL PAINTING

The results of a panel discussion presented at the Fourth Biennial IAPS Convention held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 11, 2001.

MATTING

There are a great variety of mat options used today, from a simple single white mat with a spacer beneath it to hand-covered linen mats to reverse bevels, yet all fall within the basic principle of simplicity. We think any mat should feature the art, not distract the viewer's eye from it.

To accomplish this the artist should select mats that are neutral to the color of the painting. Usually this is 'white,' though anyone who has seen the array of white mat colors to choose from will realize that this is not a simple matter in itself.

Snowy white mats tend to dazzle the viewer's eye, which can make the image difficult to see.

Colored mats are often perceived as an effort to assist a weak painting. While colored mats can complement a piece, and we do not recommend that they be 'banned,' we encourage artists to admit that this prejudice exists and accept the consequences of it if they choose to use colored mats (especially brightly colored ones.) Double mats and reverse bevels are entirely up to the discretion of the artist. Avoid having the mat and frame of equal width. Which should be wider? Traditionally it is the mat, but either option is acceptable.

Another choice for matting is a linen liner. This can reside beneath the glass or on top of it. It is a perfectly acceptable alternative that can make a pastel painting look more traditional and is frequently chosen. Small smudges on the liner can be easily erased with a soft, clean eraser, if done carefully.

Use acid-free mats if your budget allows. In fact any time you can afford it, archival materials are best to use. However, there is a limit of good sense, available time and resources that should always be considered.

Remember that pastels do not always have to be matted. Recently artists have begun to frame their pastels much like oil paintings, using no mat but adding a spacer between the frame and the glass so that the painting is not in contact with the glass.

This is one of the few places where our panel agreed unanimously: a pastel painting should never come in direct contact with the glass. Pastel is too easily smeared this way, and in humid climates this contact condenses moisture that can cause the growth of mold, not to mention the simple fact that the painting can literally stick to the glass. This is the function of a mat or spacer, to allow some air between glass and pastel.

We also agree that floating pastel paintings is undesirable. When a dusty pastel is allowed to hang free, mounted inside the frame without any mat to create air space and to essentially hold the paper in place, any movement of the painting will allow the pastel particles to touch the glass and adhere there. We discourage its use.

We recommend using Fomecor or acid free rag mat boards to back your paintings. Do not choose cardboard because of the acidity.

GLAZING

Most artists choose single strength picture glass for their paintings. Once again we all agree that old-fashioned 'non-glare' glass is never to be used because it dulls the detail of the painting and allows ultraviolet light to reach the surface of the painting, fading colors. Instead choose glass that has a non-reflective optical coating to reduce glare, which can be costly but is more suitable than other choices.

Plexiglas treated with a non-static spray made specifically for Plexiglas, can be used to frame pastels. As with glass it, too, should be separated from the painting, using an even deeper spacer or mat than one would use with glass. One of the advantages to Plexiglas is its lightness, which makes it ideal for particularly large or heavy pieces, and its ease in shipping.

Be sure to use a soft, lint-free cloth to carefully clean Plexiglas, as well as a bottle of plastic cleaner, rather than spray cleaners commonly used on glass which can abrade the plastic.