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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

A Great Way to Store Finished Pastel Paintings

'Summer Fields' 5x7 pastel ©Karen Margulis SOLD


What do you do with all of your unfinished paintings? I have a multi step approach to painting storage and the first step is courtesy of IKEA. Many artists like to keep finished paintings around the studio before framing and storing so they can evaluate them with fresh eyes. This is a challenge with pastels because they need to be protected so leaving them sitting around the studio is inviting damage (especially when you have curious cats & dogs) So I discovered a great way to keep paintings in view but up and out of the way. It is a wire curtain line from IKEA.

My Hanging System courtesy of IKEA
Paintings on wall are part of my 100 variation challenge
This curtain wire is easily attached to the wall on two sides and mine stretches 12 feet. It comes with clips that hook onto the wire so it is simple to clip your painting and hang it on the wire. Extra hooks are available. I find I can hang about 30 paintings 11x14 or smaller...perfect for a month's work. Having them hanging all month gives me a chance to revisit them and make changes as I see fit. Looking at a month's allows me to see what I am pleased with and what I want to work on. At the end of the month I take them all down and file them away (I'll get into that in another post) I am now ready to start the new month. I find it helpful to keep my current work handy and in view. It is also great for my students to see what I've been working on up close.
This wire is available at Ikea stores. It is called a DEKA Curtain wire and it includes clips. Here is the link for the curtain wire from the Ikea website.
I will be sharing the next steps to my storage system in an upcoming post. Be sure to sign up for email updates (on sidebar) so you don't miss a post.

5 comments:

Suzanne Roberts said...

I think this is a very creative way to hang pastel paintings....Thank you for sharing this great idea!

Karen said...

Thanks Suzanne, it has worked out great for me. Keeps the paintings from curious cats and dogs!

nigelfletcher said...

Really like this painting! It made me look you up and check out your blog and website. Nice work, pastels si a medium I have never tried but when I see work like this I feel inspired to have a go.

Karen said...

Thank you very much Nigel. I'm glad you came to visit my blog and appreciate your comments. I hope you will give pastels a try. It is such a versatile medium and so much fun!

Sarah Bachhuber Peroutka said...

I'm grateful to you for always generously sharing your wisdom and experience! I'm putting this item on my shopping list.