A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Art Walk Yesterday
First, let me say that I pushed myself to complete two new paintings to exhibit at Art Walk this month. It is a thrill to sign a painting, knowing that you are "sealing the deal". I was pleased with the final products, and especially pleased that my self-imposed deadline was met. I packed up my paintings for transport, gathered extra business cards, my e-newsletter sign up book and layered myself in sweaters, coats, gloves, scarves and hat (it was a very cold, windy day). Out the door I went with high expectations of meeting new people and sharing my art.
This was my first outdoor event where the weather was proving to be the victor. The grid panels needed to be zip-tied to the canopy/tent and the canopy/tent needed to be weighted down. As the paintings were hung on the hooks, they literally were blown to the point of being nearly horizontal, as if they were superman's cape trailing behind as he flies. The paintings were then zip-tied to the grid panels. All things considered, the set up was going quite well, until I pulled out my new painting, "Along Point San Pedro". Glaring at me like an opponent beat in the game of Battleship, was a puncture wound - the iconic beep sounded in my head, and my heart sank. How the heck did my brand new painting get punctured? It was a small (1/8th inch) hole, but it was obvious. After I picked my heart up, I compressed the puncture from both sides to flatten it out and make it less visible. The wind continued to rule, I met some cool people and a couple of interested collectors - who were also cool - and got through the event with my paintings rising and falling like waves.
The next day I reassessed the damaged painting and concluded that it needed to be fixed in the most professional way possible. Which meant I Googled how to repair punctured paintings. There were several posts on methods of fixing canvas mishaps. I read each approach thoroughly and some of the directions involved glue, a canvas patch, some sort of filler and careful paint matching. A few mentioned wax and a hot iron. Because of hours of ironing pillowcases and handkerchiefs as a child, I refuse to pick up an iron, so that option was out. Not having any spare canvas, and not wanting to buy some, I was back to square one.
Ever the experimenter, I discussed the options with my husband over breakfast and tossed around the idea of using fusible webbing used in dressmaking and layering patches of that with glue. Then, my DIY husband suggested joint tape used for drywall. Both seemed like good options, but joint tape is a stronger product, so that got my vote.
The repair job will probably take a few days, allowing each layer to dry before applying another. I plan to use gesso on the top side of the painting to fill in the little hole before repainting as suggested in several posts. That in mind, only time will tell if my choice was a good decision. In the meantime, I need to transport my paintings with more care and avoid the repair process altogether - I need a hole in a canvas like I need a hole in my head.
The name of the file attached for the image is Along Point San Pedro by Laurie Finkelstein