Shipping and handling

[Jen Reinstadler]

I need to mail a painting on Masonite. There is no particular hurry on this one, but I know the client is anxious to get it nonetheless. I have shipped paintings wet (or nearly so) by packaging them in cheap, cast-off, garage sale quality frames, but I haven't got one of those right now in the size I need.

I spoke with a gallery director friend of mine that says he refuses to ever ship a painting wet. But he has no qualms about simply bubble-wrapping a dry painting really well.

So... 1) When is an oil painting dry enough to ship? 2) Does anybody else have any fabulous solutions to shipping artwork (unframed)?

[Michele Rushworth]

I've had bubble wrap stick to and mar the surface of a painting that was "almost" dry. I thought it was dry, actually. Best to wait until you're sure.

[Kimberly Dow]

At a Uhaul place they have these foam corners to put on a picture/painting for moving. If you put those on the corners of the cnavas, then wrapped in protective paper tightly it wouldnt touch the canvas surface - just the corners. Then bubble wrap over that.

[Jen Reinstadler]

Thank you both! I'm glad to know U-Haul sells those little corners, that's another place I should've called.

Michelle-

So, do you think three weeks drying time on really thin paint is good enough?

[Michele Rushworth]

It depends on so many factors: where you live, what the weather is like, how thick the paint is, how much oil was in the paint, etc.