The Framers Forum

Hi All.
I had a customer bring in a painting which was approx 1m square. Its not on canvas more like linen. It doesn't lay flat, & theres virtually no excess to allow stretching and pinning onto stretcher bars.
The paint in some areas is 2 - 4 mm high so putting it into my hard bed press to glue it onto board, won't work.
The paint is cracking and lifting off in places. I turned it away because i didn't think i could achieve my customers expectations - what would you have done?

I've had a few things not unlike this.

They aren't painted with much thought to longevity. The best you can do is try and get them into a state where you
can put them in a frame in a reasonable manner. Don't try to 'improve' them. Basically, take what you are given and
deal with it as best you can.
There is no way you are going to flatten the thing without causing damage. Get it as flat as possible without stretching
it or putting undue strain on it. Bits are going to come off, but that's inevitable. It will probably continue to self-destruct
with age but it's not a priceless masterpiece. Don't fret too much.

I think if I were handed the beast I would make a wooden frame out of PSE timber (with a few cross-braces)and face it with MDF.
Plonk the painting on top and put plenty of staples around. Any bumps would be part of the character.

I suspect that it was painted on a stretched piece of fabric, but taken off the bars for easy transport. No doubt rolled up. Doing this
has allowed the 'canvas' to contract and rolling would stress the heavy impasto. There is no way you can get it back to how it was.

I'm surprised it looks as good as it does actually.

Parm wrote:I turned it away because i didn't think i could achieve my customers expectations - what would you have done?

It all depends on your customer's expectations. It's never going to look like a freshly-painted Rubens.

I would of put it in a vacuum press with foam on top and pressed it to mdf

One option would be to stitch on an extra width of edging fabric which could then be stapled or laced or something...

Depending on customer's comments and expectations, I would also probably leave it be. Let another pull the pin on this canvas grenade.

I had something fairly similar, it was a souvenir canvas that didn't have any spare edges to wrap around and it was quite built up and looked like it would crack if bent.
It looked as though the artist had pinned it at the corners to paint it.
After much discussion we decided to use clothes tags through the pin holes at the corners and fix it to a board.
The customer was aware it wouldn't lie flat but that's part of the charm.
The tags are hidden by a frame.

I'd do the job, set the customers expectations before you start. PVA it onto a board & take it from there.

Sometimes people don't want to change the world or spend a lot of money, they just want something nice on a wall

I dont think I would do any of those. I would pin it to 10mm foam board in the same way silks are done. That way you can put "just enough" tension on the fabric.

We have had similar stuff and we have tried all sorts from stapling onto laths and jacking it out to tension, but invariably we have found that when they are "painted" they are not square so a nightmare.

Once you have put it onto foam board you can then choose a variety of ways to finish it off. None are unrecoverable, like dry mounting

Morning All. Thank you all for your comments, opinions & advice. Much appreciated. Its not often that I turn work away, but when I do its usually because the end result my customers wants, coupled with the budget they have in mind, is un-realistic.
Strangely though i tend to feel guilty afterwards, thinking ' well perhaps I could have given it a go' !

I know what you mean. I still feel I ought to find a way of producing so kind of acceptable result after all the years I been framing. Perhaps is not something that goes away for some of us.

On the other hand, don't let yourself feel bad about it, a bodge that is not quite good enough, does not help build a good reputation. I think that you did the right thing by turning this one away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yga061XlOck
There is a course taught by Mark Markoff via PPFA in "strip lining" with BEVA adhesive for just this problem.

I did something similar a while back. Held it in place with a few staples through the fabric at the back which were hidden by a mount.

Customer hadn't paid huge amounts for it and wasn't planning on taking it out the frame - I'm not fussed about making it reversible if the customer isn't.

Didn't lay flat but, tbh, I think it would be a pity to press it flat. I like being able to see the bumps.

I would also consider some nice pins/nails in the corners and make it part of the design.

I would not have turned it down.

I would have tackled it as prospero or kartoffelngeist suggested. In a life time of framing, and then some I don't recall turning any work down.

Jerome, fascinating video with a good sound track, thanks for posting

IFGL, wish I could say the same about yours

Peter

Lol