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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Mini Week...Protecting Pastel Paintings on the Go: Art Hack!

'Hill Country Magic'        2.5 x 3.5        pastel       ©Karen Margulis
available $25
Mini Week continues with a tip for storing those mini pastel paintings.  When I travel with pastels one of the important considerations is how to transport paper and the finished pastel paintings. As I discussed in a previous post, I like to use small plastic portfolio books by Itoya. The plastic sleeves protect my paper and the finished paintings until I get home. (there is very minimal pastel dust on the plastic sleeves) This has been an ideal solution.

It is ideal until I forgot to pack a portfolio book! They actually don't make them as small as 2.5x3.5 so I usually bring a small photo album from the Dollar Tree. I forgot that as well! In fact I was in the middle of my first painting on the cruise when I realized I didn't have a way to store and protect my paintings! Never fear....a solution was right in my beach bag!

'Spring Blues'     2.5 x 3.5     pastel      $25
I remembered that I had thrown the little notepad supplied in the cabin into my beach bag.  The notepad had about 20 pages and it would be perfect for my paintings! As I finished a painting I would place it face down in between the pages. I was able to get two paintings back to back on each page. I kept this notepad in a ziplock bag (I always have a few of these with me) It worked great!

When I got home I unloaded the notepad and the paintings survived without any damage! 
Tomorrow I will share more ideas for storage and display of minis.

Using a notepad to store and protect my paintings until I got home


Join me this spring in the Texas Hill Country! There are still some openings and I would love to share with you in a very beautiful place. This plein air workshop is suitable for any level. My goal is to simplify pastel and plein air and make it fun! Contact me for information or to register.karenmargulis@gmail.com



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1 comment:

robertsloan2art said...

I love those Itoya portfolios for storing art and have them in several sizes. They're wonderful for keeping pastel paintings safe and unsmudged.

For minis, ACEO/ATC size 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", I have another solution - and it's also available for 4" x 6" as well. I get archival clear card holders for sports cards, like baseball cards. I found out about this from some eBay friends who sold ACEOs because they'd pack my art in them. They're not expensive, they are archival and wonderful for permanent storage and display too - there's soft sleeve archival envelopes but also sturdier 3" x 4" "top loaders" that hold a mini painting solid as if it was framed.

I used to use the combination of soft sleeve and top loader for shipping, then put the art in the regular mail. I did a lot of ACEOs in pastels or pastel pencils and never had a problem except for one that I did on velour paper. They don't keep velour from shaking the color loose in the mail, but they will work for anything else.

12:52 PM

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