Learning curves - distance and art

Getting any painting done over the last week was tough with the WOAS show charging in fast. I'm in good shape tho...my shipping and framing is done and will be in Vegas next week....it was quite a learning curve for me but not the pros at JFM who got it done!

My everlasting appreciation to Pat, the JFM staff and Barry the art dealer, a total stranger on his way to Atlanta who agreed to meet me at I-81 & I-64 to deliver my paintings to JFM the following day.

Today with that behind me, I'm a happy camper; so maybe a few paintings will emerge, like another try at my failed Venetian Gods..LOL

Even with a failed painting, I actually had a good last week. I also spent time on the packing and shipping thing because it's become problematic, especially as my paintings get larger and galleries get further away. FedEx has worked exceptionally well as long as I can do the packing. I can handle singles up to a size myself, but it's not practical for large paintings or quantities of art. 

It costs about $600 to $1,000 to ship and crate a large framed painting (58x54) via most art shippers. If it's a sold painting perhaps OK but this is not the case in Vegas where I'm sending (17) paintings...some very large ones too as in this one below. No doubt a specialty art shipper could do it but could they frame it too?

WOAS is a 3-day show and I could easily be faced with return shipping. How would you like this one coming back...LOL

Framing and shipping is a big deal, costly and time consuming, taking valuable painting time....it's just a different mindset - shifting gears and all....not my job description!

This alone makes being a regional artist most attractive....even for a gallery, it is expensive to operate outside driving distance. Perhaps another reason we're swimming in small paintings...had to get that in:=)

So where is all this leading? An interesting alternative emerged from JFM, the company who supplies the majority of my framing. JFM is a wholesaler out of Atlanta, Ga. They might be unique in the business because they are multifaceted. JFM has an art reproduction printing service for artists, which is how I was exposed to some of their other services. I found they frequently drop ship finished work for artists....makes perfect sense.....even more so after fooling around with it the last few weeks on another project.

I also had a new gallery that wanted (8) paintings - most were shipped FedEx - (1) crate at 48x48x8 . I couldn't lift the box but me and the FedEx guy struggled and got it done. Going forward I needed a better solution - keep it light and manageable. Plus, I still had to ship the last painting, a 54x50 to the gallery. Knowing I would be faced with this more often than not led me to searching and buying larger custom corrugated boxes to fit my larger paintings up to 58x54 framed. The boxes would not arrive in time for Vegas tho...thank god!

All this brought me to JFM who I knew from experience could ship large heavy frames damage free. 
 
I approached them about framing and shipping my paintings to Vegas. They agreed and suggested sending the paintings not stretched but rolled up (less expensive); they would stretch, frame and drop ship to Vegas...or wherever. My kind of answer and just what I needed, a dependable vertical company that could do it all for me. 

So why wouldn't this work for my gallery shipments too?  My paintings and framing would be handled once and shipped direct. Aside from the obvious cost, saving over double shipping and handling, it saves time and allows me to ship worry free to any gallery or distant show. In my case, the latter being most important.....less stress (no failed paintings) more easel time!

Rolling my paintings up for shipping works for me and FedEx drivers will be a lot happier too:=)

Going into the new year I have a viable shipping solution....a serious learning curve!

Later....