A full day, preparing and checking paintings for September's Cheshire Art Fair. The work needed string that was close to the top as per their instructions - this is generally to prevent a frontward lean when hanging paintings, a common problem, especially if the work is away from a wall. My solution, in the past, is to hook the string around a second U shaped loop at the top of the painting, so that the painting, even when suspended in the middle of a room, will hang vertically. This time, however, I obeyed the guides and re-strung the work with string very near the top. The downside with this is that the inverted-V shaped string can poke out of the top, making the wall hook visible. This can't be helped.
I've submitted 8 works, plus one as a 'donation work' where the commission for the charity is a lot higher. Everything needed at least some adjustment or new strings, which is a lot of measuring, drilling, screwing. A few paintings needed more work on the framing itself...
Except For The Hatred needed a backing board; this is basically bare canvas, but it's more professional to have a board on the back and a label. Plus, the organza material needed holding in place neatly:
Secondly, I've decided to show Flesh Vase With Stone Flowers, a piece which normally hangs on my wall, and has rarely ever been shown, but now it is time. Its frame needed a backing board too, but also it had black screws in the side. These are barely visible in their shadowed place, but now I prefer a smooth frame, so I removed those and started to fill the holes. This is a fairly complex restoration job. It can never be perfect, I know that from experience, but it should be less visible than the old screws.
Each greetings card I aim to exhibit has to be listed individually, and images for everything prepared. The cards themselves needed cellophane bagging. All of this wrapping and admin work took until 17:30.
I also received the parts for my photography. See this L-plate:
It can very usefully be configured so that the camera fits on the outside like that, rather than on the inside of the L. Unfortunately, the holes in the plate on the back are spaced at 11mm, and the holes on the 'SmallRig' double-tube adaptor thing spaced at 9mm (duh!) so the two do not fit. I can fit it via the central hole(s) and manually adjust though. So, I can make something like this:
To point the camera exactly down, when running along a rail (or sideways for a vertical rail). I need two more of the rail things for the ends of the rail, plus some rails (15mm tubing) and spirit levels to ensure everything is calibrated. That should be it. That system, plus two tripods at the end (I have two very cheap and flimsy ones) should cost £100 to £150 in total, depending on the cost of the rods.
