Art Work

I hung some artwork today.

A few weeks ago I happened onto an estate sale remains looking for a free wool carpet that was advertised on Craigs List. Well the carpet was hideous (probably why it was free) but they were giving away some large painted canvases by her artist mother- like 48" x 36" and 36" x 34". I took all 7 of them (and felt a little guilty when the woman said she would accept donations for them. First they were FREE then she wanted money. I told her I couldn't give her any and was prepared to just walk away. She relented and stuck to the FREE deal. As I was loading them into my car, her brother confided in me that they were just going to donate them to Salvation Army so I shouldn't feel bad.

Anyway I thought either I or my art school son would just paint over the existing artwork. Large gallery wrapped canvases are expensive. Then I really looked at the paintings and some were actually good. So I thought I'd try to sell the good paintings on Craigs List and fund my needed car repairs. I would still have a couple canvases to paint. Fast forward a few weeks and they are still sitting in my dark basement waiting to be taken outside into the sunlight and photographed and measured for Craigs List.

I got a decorating bee in my bonnet and dragged the 3 good paintings upstairs (4 flights of stairs). First off I cleaned them. How do you clean paintings you might ask? The cheap way for not so great art is with white bread (I used a soft wheat because that's what I had) wadded into a ball and lightly rubbed all over the painting. It provides enough friction and moisture and whisks away dirt. You can see all the dirty bread crumbs falling to the floor. The paintings were instantly brighter and the colors more vibrant.

I hung one in the living room, the largest one in the dining room and the last above my bed. The dining room painting stretcher bars are warped. I will have to actually screw it to the wall to get it to lie flat and my son is freaking out about me putting more holes in the plaster. Something about how frequently I change my mind when decorating. I'll just wait until he goes back to college in about 10 days and rehang it higher on the wall and flush with little angle brackets.