Question Wavy canvas....

[canada framer]

Acustomer brought in 2 handpainted canvases that were previously streched (gallerie wraps) so the lines are visible and im going to restretch them the same way they were before.....
The problem is that the reason she unstretched them is because they got damaged from water or something like that and they got wavy....
i could see the waves in them and they are pretty large canvases (50 x 40 apprx)...if i spray distilled water in back of the canvas will it stretch nicely with result getting rid of the waves???
i havent tried anything yet i just got them....
Thank you...

 

[Rob Markoff]

You don't say what kind of canvas it is or the meduim used to paint/create the pieces (which would be very helpful.)

DO NOT spray anything on the back of a canvas...EVER - especially a giclee.

The best way to restretch these and to remove the waves is to use a keyable bar made to the correct size and then key it out, wait, and then rekey it as the painting relaxes. If the waves are really bad enough, a conservator would use copper plates and heavy weights to flatten the waves (if they can be flattened,) often on a hot table. Another problem could be that the original stretchers might not have had cross supports (absolutely necessay on a canvas of the size you specified) and they could have been on STRAINERS, which are not STRETCHERS.

A stretcher is a support that has adjustability. A strainer may be made form the same stock, but it is of a fixed dimension. The only way to tension a painting on a strainer is to restretch it, and if the piece is gallery wrapped, the original folds will then be pulled over the bead and it will look really bad.

DO NOT use canvas pliers to pull the canvas taught on the initial stretch. Put the painting in position on the bead as neceaasry and use the keys to tension the painting.

Upper Canada Stretchers can make you a fractional metric/inch stretcher that is keyable.

 

[canada framer]

She said that the paint used is german and water based....
she told me not to worry about the sides when i stretch it because she will touch them up afterwards.....so the existing lines will get a makeover.....shes the one who told me to use distilled water....i told her that itss the first time i hear of this but she said that shes done it many many times...
how much would you charge for a job like this???
and how long should it take me??

most of my work is digital images printed on canvas so that means that everything is straight and stretching is a breeze....so this i could say is a bit of challenge but nothing that i cant handle....

 

[Jim Miller]

...shes the one who told me to use distilled water....i told her that itss the first time i hear of this but she said that shes done it many many times...

In that case, let her do it. On second thought, no - don't encourage her. Rob is right, of course: No water on a canvas painting.

A typical painting consists of several layers of dissimilar materials, all of which may expand and contract differently. Wetting the back would probably cause damage, as some moisture-sensitive material in the painting could disintegrate or loosen. Trouble is, the damage might not show up until later, after some expansion/contraction cycles cause separation of the layers.

If you do anything that results in damage, you may have to pay for future repairs that might cost far more than your profit on the job. Why take the chance? Consult a conservator.

 

[canada framer]

Ya im going to tell her about that and if she insists ill make her sign a paper...i dont know why she wants me to spray distilled water in back of it...i think she thinks that thats the only way the waves will go away....actually they are not even that bad...

 

[Jim Miller]

...if she insists ill make her sign a paper...

Asking her to sign a paper might re-open the discussion, but that probably would not reduce your liability if you damage it further.

Customers may want us to do all sorts of destructive things, but we need not agree. Court cases may be few and far between, but my lawyer says that we, as professionals, are supposed to know better than to do anything destuctive to anything of value.

 

[Ylva]

I had a customer come in with a painting on velvet. It was in a frame, without glazing. It was terribly dirty.
He asked me to clean it; and I refused. I have no idea how, I'm a framer, not a cleaner. He told me to give it a try anyway, I refused again, explaining my position.

He left, went to another framer instead.

A few weeks later, he came back, with the painting, chips of paint missing. Other framer had tried to clean it for him, and surprise; paint came right off.
It was in a new frame, without glazing, again!

The customer told me that he should have listened to me in the first place and just came in to tell me I was right. (I thought this was extremely sweet!)
I gave him the url link to find a conservator, hoping maybe someone could do something for him, and also advised him to put in glazing afterwards.

Haven't seen him back yet, but have a feeling that if he needs something framed next time, he'll come straight to me.

Sometimes just saying 'no' will pay off.