Re: [frameconnews]

[bahasa@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/25/00 06:23:18 CST, iconframes@one.net.au writes:

> Imagine this......an artist wants a large painting or drawing on paper 
(unstable paper in that the paper is buckled and warped) framed. The artist 
wants the paper to be flat in the frame, but he wants the work to float 
inside a box frame with spacers. And the artwork has to be mounted archivally.

Patrick,

First, I'd tell the artist to stop taking any more of those 'happy pills'. 
Seriously though, what s/he is asking is nothing short of a miracle. The only 
thing worse would be if the drawing were done in pastel.

If the artwork has cockling, that is usually a result of the media used (most 
watercolors have some cockling). It could also occur from how the artwork was 
stored after creation. 

While misting the back of the artwork w/ water and then weighing it down w/ a 
piece of plate glass may remove some of the cockling, it may not remove all 
of them and if done improperly could actually exacerbate the problem.

If the media were stable enough to be mounted by a vacuum press or even dry 
mounting, that would make it flat, but it certainly wouldn't be of 
preservation calibre. 

You could also try using your heat press to remove the cockling, but give the 
artist full disclosure of everything that could go wrong, and then get a 
waiver signed. 

Realize that framers have been sued successfully for doing things even after 
a waiver was signed. If the judge comes to the conclusion that you as a 
professional "should have known better".

Patrick, if the artist came to me w/ this project I'd handle it this way:

"I'd love to help you <artist's name>. Unfortunately I have to operate within 
the laws of physics and what you want isn't possible. There are some things 
we can do and I can make some suggestions."

I'd ask questions to determine why the cockling occurred and base my response 
upon his/her answer. If it's the media, I'd talk about the beauty of the 
cockling with a watercolor and how that shows it is an original. If it was 
due to improper hanging I'd educate him/her on why we don't hang pictures on 
an outside wall, etc.. I'd educate them on why cockling occurs and how to 
prevent and 'fix' it.

"We can attempt to remove the cockling by <misting back, glass or heat press- 
depending on media used> though there could be some problems here (if misting 
& glass explain the problems).

"The closest we can come to what you want would be this: We can drymount your 
artwork, which will make it flat and we can float mount it as well. The 
problem is that the piece wouldn't be done to preservation standards and the 
value of the artwork would be decreased. The artwork would also be looked 
upon as damaged and or destroyed.

"I'm a member of PPFA and FACTS (explaining what they mean), both of which 
have ethics that prevent me from doing any damage <knowingly> to the artwork. 
Even if I didn't belong to either group, my personal ethics wouldn't allow me 
to damage your artwork.

"Therefore, if this is the route you'd like to take, I'll have to refuse the 
job. I'll be happy to float mount your piece and (if I think it wouldn't harm 
the artwork) try to remove as much of the cockling as possible. This 
beautiful piece will be done to preservation standards and will remain as 
beautiful in <fill in the years> as it is now. I can not however, guarantee 
it will lay flat."

Then I'd wait and see what they wanted. Sometimes we have to turn down work 
(unless the reward is more than the risk to you). I certainly wouldn't want 
to drymount the piece and then have the artist turn into another Van Gogh.


Hope this helped,

Kenneth Brooks   FACTS project member  PPFA  AFC
Integrity Framing & Art Gallery
Wichita Falls, TX
USA