How to Protect Your Art During Shipping

I recently found out my painting "Department Store" was accepted into the 31st Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors.  Since I live in the Baltimore-Washington area and the exhibition is in Old Forge, NY I have to ship my art out of state for the first time.  When you ship your art you want it to arrive safe and sound at your customer’s location or at the gallery.  You have invested yourself into your art and you want others to enjoy it, so you want to make sure that can happen. So I asked some friends their experience and recommendations for shipping to exhibitions and I spoke to my insurance provider about insurance during transit.  Here is the process I plan to follow.  If you have anything to add, please comment on this blog.

Every care must be taken to ensure the art is properly packed.  Since accidents can happen during shipping you may also want to have documentation to ensure you get reimbursed if it gets damaged in shipping.  You’ve paid for shipping insurance, so you need documentation to ensure you can prove you properly packaged your art.  You also don't want your packing materials misplaced at the destination so the art is properly packed at the end of the exhibition.  Here are the steps I will use when shipping framed art.

Department Story by April M Rimpo in shipping box

1. Make sure your art is clean and ready to ship (properly labeled, your bio on the back of the painting with a summary of your inspiration for the buyer).
2. Photograph the art (have the date turned on in your camera so you can prove it was immediately before shipping).       One shot of the full painting and frame.   One close up of each corner showing a segment of the art with a 2^nd close-up of each corner showing the frame corner is free of mars or dents (show a little of the painting so it can be correlated with the artwork).
3. Prepare the foam insert so your art fits snugly.
4.  If shipping to a gallery or exhibition, label all packing materials with your name so none of the packing foam gets lost by the gallery or handling agent.
5. Photograph the outside of the box to show the condition of the shipping container on the outside.
6. Place your art in the shipping container and photograph it with the cover open to show the painting is secure within the box (insurance won’t cover your art if they can claim the art was not securely packaged.).
7. Place a copy of shipping address labels inside your package in case the outside gets damaged.  This will allow the carrier to still deliver the art.
8. Insert the Return Shipping Label in the carton per the exhibit shipping instructions.  Most shipping companies (FedEx, UPS) allow you to create a return shipping label. If you don't know how to create the return shipping label, take the art to the shipper without taping the box. They can make the Return Shipping Label for you to place in the package before shipping.  
9. Close and tape the box and photograph one last time to show the final condition of the box.

RedDotBlog has a great post on the packing process for 2-D art. They show you how to create a shipping box and double boxing the artwork.  See it here


Interested in April's classes? Consider becoming a Studio Friend by signing up for her twice-monthly email. April segments her newsletter so you can select topics you'd like to hear about when you sign up. For those who include a selection of General Interest you will receive emails about twice-monthly. If you are only interested in classes, then the emails will be much less frequent discussing upcoming classes and how to register.  Thank you for your interest.

Contact April and see more of her art on her website

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

Exhibit at Children's National Medical Center

January 10 2018 - March 31, 2018

The Children's National Medical Center

West Wing corridor

A Taste of Touchstone

111 Michigan Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20010

Buyers are to contact directly with Greg Scott, Gallery & Exhibit Coordinator, at the Children National Hospital. 
25% OF SALES GOING TO CC&TAS/CNMC

This exhibit features a variety of artwork by members of Touchstone Gallery.  We each have a small sampling of our art intended to nurture wellness for the patients, their families, and the staff.

Creative & Therapeutic Arts Services Coordinates the Gallery & Exhibit Space

Children’s National has provided artistic programming to patients, families and staff since 1978. Our Creative & Therapeutic Arts Services team of professionals brings the cultural and healing arts to over 10,000 patients annually regardless of condition. Our mission is to integrate the expressive arts, therapeutic animal visitation, the performing arts and healing space design with traditional medical practices to foster a holistic health experience where patients may continue their learning and growth development process during their hospital stay. Our goals are to foster an atmosphere of cultural tolerance, promote wellness through self-expression, support patients and their families during a difficult time, offer patients choice and variety, and create an aesthetically pleasing environment…all through the power of the arts.

Bumblebee
Watercolor
22" X 15", available framed in a 27" X 20" brushed silver frame.
$500

Lakeside

Acrylic on Canvas

9" X 12" painting in a 14" X 17"  frame

$325

The Conservatory

Watercolor

18" X 12" 

in 24"X18" brushed silver frame with white mat

$600

Click here to Contact April

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

2017 - Giving thanks for a Wonderful Year

2017 has been a year of change: new highs we have never seen in the stock market (Dow topped 21000 in March and continued into the 24000s as the year ended), more people standing up and participating in marches to have their voices heard than we've seen in decades, and unfortunately more violence across our country. During all this turmoil and change, my art year has been incredible. Here are many of my happiest art business moments:

• My paintings and fused glass are represented by HorseSpirit Arts Gallery in Ellicott City, Maryland since last January and I've signed my contract to continue in 2018.
• The Artistic Spirit video series by HorseSpirit Arts Gallery included me and my art in its second episode. People from across the globe participated in the Facebook LIVE session and it reached over 1800 views within one week. What magnificent press! I continue to have a Facebook and Instagram follower from Japan that is the result of this series. Enjoy the video on YouTube.  I've inserted a link at the end of this post. 
• I was accepted into three (3) international watermedia exhibits during February, resulting in Signature Artist status in all three. Signature Artist status is an honor many societies offer after you've been selected to be in their shows after a certain number of times. I now have Signature Artist status in six watermedia organizations.
• My artwork was featured in a solo exhibit in March at Touchstone Gallery in Washington DC. 
• My first of several paintings was sold at HorseSpirit Arts Gallery in February with continued sales throughout the year.  Thanks to Robin Holliday and her wonderful staff for all their hard work.
• My painting, Freight Yard, was included in AcrylicWorks4: Captivating Color, a Northlight best of acrylic book, which was published in April.

• I had a wonderful trip to New Orleans, where my husband and I joined my brother and his girlfriend, for the French Quarter Fest. Lots of great music, fantastic food, and fun; not to mention lots of wonderful new source material for future paintings.
• In April I learned that my painting, Lunch with Champagne, was selected for North Light Books' Splash 19: Illusion of Light. I never thought I would have artwork selected for this Best of Watercolor book. It will be published in 2018.

•  I taught a couple Fun with Fluid Acrylic workshops in 2017; first in June and again in October. I've been thinking about teaching and found out I really enjoy doing so, despite feeling like I carry half of my studio with me to these workshops. I did, however, learn how exhausting it is to teach.
• June brought me news that two of my paintings will be in North Light Books' 2018 Best of Acrylic book, AcrylicWorks5: Bold Values. The selected paintings are Movement and Lanterns.
• The Bakery was selected for the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society's 38th Annual International Juried Exhibition, held in Gettysburg, PA. It was so nice having a show that is only a little over an hour away, allowing me to see it in person and to attend the opening reception, where I received an Honorable Mention award.  In November this same painting received the 3rd Place award in the Bauhaus Prairie Art Gallery Online Exhibit "Landscapes, Seascapes, and Interiors." 



Stalks by April M Rimpo

• In October and November Movement III was on exhibit in the International Society of Experimental Artists' 26th Annual ISEA International Art Exhibition, held on Sanibel Island, Florida. Movement III was also accepted in the International Society of Acrylic Painter's 2nd Online Member Juried Exhibition.
• Stalks was selected by juror, Susan Behrends Frank, Ph.D., Curator, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC for the Maryland Federation of Art Exhibition Strokes of Genius.

Commissioned Paintings

• Three people commissioned paintings from me this year. There was a DC street scene, a view of San Francisco Bay from another home, and a family at their favorite camping site. All were great projects. This is the first time that  I didn't know any of the people before the commission.  Each allowed me to create a special place in their life. What an honor. (In the image at left I also included a portion of the commission from 2016 for some dear friends of mine who asked me to paint their family truck.)
• I created my first video of me creating a painting.  Since I started with my wet, drippy, netting technique, I had to tip my board a lot during the first part of the video in a way that you cannot see the whole process. I hope you see enough to understand the basic approach.  I've inserted some stills into the video to show the progress and included an image of the finished painting at the end.  You can see the video in my blog on They're Everywhere.
• Three of my fused glass pieces sold this year; two being direct sales. It was a big surprise for me since I have been focusing on my painting and not my fused glass. Perhaps there will be some new fused glass creations in 2018.

2017 was a wonderful year for my art and my personal life. I've just returned from a great visit with my son, his wife, and her parents. It is always a treat to have time with family.

I wish you all a fantastic year in 2018 with great health and happiness!

You can watch the Artistic Spirits YouTube video here 
   https://youtu.be/qQJxcYElnbQ

Click here to Contact April

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.