E-commerce has opened doors for artists world over. It gives you access to customers far away. If you have an online portal and if you are successful in finding buyers, your next logical step is in shipping your artwork across. Artwork has to be packaged in such a manner that it reaches the destination undamaged.
How to pack artwork:
As much as possible, ship art unframed without glass or matting. When you do your budgeting, factor cost for plexi instead of glass. Canvas art is generally sent on stretch bars. Un-stretched art can be sent in shipping tubes. Paper, photographs and canvas do not keep well if they are shipped tightly bound or curled with an elastic band. Invest in Glassine paper and place art between these papers. They can be sealed and then opened at destination.
If you use cardboard in your packaging, cut each piece on a different bias to prevent the card from being bent. If you mark the outside of your carton “NON-CONVEYABLE”, you ensure proper handling and instruct people to avoid it being subjected to automated handling equipment. If glass is inevitable on your package, use glass safety film on top of every piece of glass you use. This ensures that the artwork stays undamaged by glass shards. Bubble wrap, cardboard, polystyrene are generally used to cushion artwork.
Wrap paintings individually. And have a layer of Glassine between. Glassine works best for pastels and pencils works. If your artwork has corners sticking out, use corner guards. They ensure that the corners don’t get dented. It is also a great idea to ship artwork in waterproof sealed envelopes. Atmospheric elements might wreck your artwork otherwise.
Fill all voids and empty spaces with packing peanuts. Whenever the shipment moves while in transit, the artwork sits snugly, thanks to the peanuts and is thus undamaged. But, the flip side here is that most galleries hate styrofoam peanuts. They can get messy sometimes.
Invest in strong, wide packaging tape so that your artwork is safe inside the package.
Insurance:
FedEx offers White Glove service for highly valued artworks and masterpieces. And shipping carriers offer additional insurance on paintings. But the fine print says that insurance kicks in only when your art is lost and not damaged. So, read the clauses thoroughly before you get insurance.
Frequent dilemmas:
Frames- try not to ship framed artwork. It is unsafe and frames can break, damaging the artwork inside.
Dry- Always, dry your painting before packing it. Even if it sounds the logical thing to do, there are cases of smudged artworks being shipped across.
Image Source: Hall of Frames.
