It’s quite a process getting artwork out of Tom’s studio in our small village to his art shows in the grand United States.
All starts with a blank canvas, tubes of paint and the inspirations of the surrounding countryside and daily French life.
As each painting comes closer to being completed he starts construction of a frame. He builds his own frames starting with a plank, milled into frame stock, nailed together into a frame. Each frame is then gilded with gold. I used to help with the framing, but I am far too busy eating bonbons and drinking wine to be of any use now-a-days.
The last step in getting the paintings across the Atlantic is to build the shipping crates. Yep – Tom is in charge of packing and shipping department as well. No leaving his precious works to the care of someone else. He’s in charge of efficiency and economy.
The crates are a work of art in themselves. Tom cleverly sizes his canvases so that when it comes time to crate up the works each one nestles inside another. The gold leaf is protected by narrow dividers. Each bundle is wrapped in what Tom considers an invention of the 21stcentury greater than smart phones—stretch wrap. (Boxes of stretch wrap we have; a cell phone is something he won’t have.)
Finally, there is the wooden crate itself. The crates are heavy and awkward, but each year Tom has refined the weight and size. His aging back dictates that no crate can weigh more than 25 kilograms (about 50 lbs.) and each crate has handles at each end so that two people can move them around. Getting older doesn’t make these shows any easier.
Check out the latest works that are winging their way to America as you read this.
The upcoming art shows are in Baltimore, March 30th and New Canaan, April 6th if you or someone you know would like to see the works in person let me know.
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