All About Encaustic
Winter 18
Tips on packaging, shipping,
framing and hanging
encaustic art –
Douglas Mehrens
After 6 years of receiving, hanging, storing and
returning artwork - shipping over 500 pieces of
encaustic art from the Institute, I would like to share
a few things I have learned. These are of course my
own opinions, and most of this you might already
know and follow.
SHIPPING
1. If you are not on a dead line, save your money
and ship it 3 day ground, Fed-x or UPS. It’s basically
handled the same way except it is transported at a
lower altitude and arrives without a weekend interruption.
If you ship often, then consider an account
which will lower the cost.
2. Insurance is expensive and if your artwork is
package right, labeled properly, (put fragile, art,
handle with care, on all sides of the box, larger the
better – (NEVER SHIP WITHOUT THESE LABELS),
then you should feel secure to take out the
standard amount that is covered with the shipping
bill. However if you want to be fully covered, FedEx
covers up to $1000 only, where UPS will cover as
high as you want to go. I find that Fed-X and UPS
very seldom loose a package. I have never had
an experience of a lost package, but have had 2
experiences of damaged artwork. In both cases,
the artwork was not packaged properly so the
insurance would not have covered them.
3. If at all possible do not ship on a Thursday or
Friday. If you can, ship on a Monday or Tuesday.
This makes sure your beautiful art is not stuck in a
truck somewhere over the weekend. This can be
especially hazardous in extreme heat or extreme
cold.
PACKAGING
If you love your art, treat it lovingly. Packaging is
the #1 priority. When you hand-deliver your art
anywhere, wrap it and put it in a box just like you
were shipping it. BUT when you are shipping it,
if you want to avoid problems - double box it and
follow these steps.
1. Wrap the art in wax paper using colored tape,
not clear so the person unwrapping it can gently
undo the paper.
2. Wrap the piece with large bubble wrap preferably,
not small ones. Tape the same way, at least
2 inches on all sides.
3. Choose a box that your artwork will fit in snug
if you can, if not put the wonderful static, messy
peanuts all around it. Or, build your own structure
out of foam core, etc that it will fit snugly in.
4. Close the box, tape it and label the box with
your name, address, email phone, etc. on the out
side. Also, what painting fits inside, as you may
be shipping more than one. Also helpful is directions
as to how to repack your artwork, like arrows,
etc. Especially if your piece has a 3 dimensional
quality to it. Don’t assume that someone will
remember how they unpacked your piece when
there sometimes are over 50 paintings to unpack
within a week for a show.
5. THE OUTER BOX should not be a box that is
from the grocery store, or some other flimsy box.
Use a double thick coriaged box; choose one that
is larger than your first box at least 8’ all around.
Pour in 8” of peanuts in the bottom, place your
box in the middle and pour all around it, to the top,
then tap it a few times to get them settled and fill
the voids. (large bubble wrap works well too) Then
seal the box completely with strong tape, label with
all the proper labels - fragile, handle with care,
and use the store-bought ones that are large and
bright. They work much better than using a felt tip
and printing it on the box. Be sure to put them on
all sides.
6. Last but not least, be sure to label your artwork.
You may have put a piece of paper in the packing
that is the label to your piece and you may have
sent label information to the gallery…..but things
float away like socks from a dryer and you need to
have label information somewhere on the painting.
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