Keeping a watchful eye

"Keeping a watchful eye" is one of many shadowbox canvases to come over the next few weeks. My loving husband builds them for me now as the company that used to make them has stopped. I have not been able to find them anywhere else. They are a saga in themselves. Originally they were available at Michaels , one of my favorite stores to shop for supplies. They always offer sales and coupons to entice you in to their store. I shop there often enough that they know my name, and ask if I need help with carts. I always try to find the best price for canvases so I can keep my prices at a reasonable level. 

The summer these appeared, I was fascinated with them. I was already putting paintings in a shadowbox frame, (also from Michaels) but the process of getting the unfinished wood frames, painting and distressing them was long and hard to store. The first year, I used them I had to have about 40 shipped from California! I had just a couple of years before, stopped using frames at all because my budget and  taste in frames was not the same as the buying public. As I said, I was fascinated with these shadowbox canvas, but at the time they were pricey. I longingly waited for them, hoping they would go on sale. Fall show season started and after a successful National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores, AL, I headed to my local Michaels to buy 4x4 canvas. I could not believe my eyes when I found them on clearance! $9.99, $10.99, and $11.99 ! The price was an absolute Godsend , AND I had the funds to purchase them! I bought all 22 they had in stock and brought them home to paint over the course of three weeks before Peter Anderson in Ocean Springs, MS. That weekend, we had one of the most successful shows ever, selling over half of them during the weekend. My husband asked if there were any more available and I shook my head no. I had already been looking online and was disappointed to find no one else made them. He said I think I can make them and I was one happy camper from that point onward. He started creating them and so the canvas stretching began in earnest. When I first started, I used a handheld stapler and it was a long time to make them. He offered to buy an electric stapler and I jumped at the chance. However, the electric one proved to be a disappointment indeed! I went through two of them, fussing and fuming at having to pound in the staples with a hammer after applying them with the stapler. We then invested in a stapler that uses an air compressor and hose. It was a successful venture and the stretching became easier, but still a lot of work! Each canvas starts as 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 lumber. Chris rips the wood to a certain angle and then begins the process of cutting the lumber into the pieces to create the frames. This is a thoughtful process, requiring him to do reverse cuts on the inside frames. He then begins building the frameworks. Each canvas is a frame within a frame, held in place with blocks of wood. Every now and then, we have a hiccup, like the time we made 15 x 15 frames instead of 16 x 16. (He claimed it was an error on my part, as I did not catch the mistake until I had stretched them!) We have also made custom sizes for commissioned pieces. A few months after we started building them, they showed back up at Michaels . I bought several, going so far as to order 12 of the 24 x 24 s on sale and having them shipped to my front door! Needless to say, I am more than a little grateful that he is capable of making them for me to stretch and offer for sale. 

The canvas are also so fun for me to paint! I love the in and out aspect of them, wrapping the painting around the canvas sides. This year, I may start adding color to them and see how that is accepted. As an artist, I am always trying to make myself better and offer items that are fresh and new. Like the Sepias, the shadowboxes look like they're here to stay!

"Keeping a watchful eye" Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 shadowbox

$325.00 

Day 3 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2018