Tending Gallery Walls
Gallery walls need tending just like a garden.
Did you know that you may view an extensive collection of my paintings right on the walls of my Dover, New Hampshire studio? I design, prune, and plant those walls with
my art.
Last week, I spent the better part of two studio days completely rehanging all the art on them.
I hadn’t done that since March of 2020, just before COVID 19 shut me down.
I remove all the paintings from the walls and methodically work my way from the center out to the corners. I listen to classical music; assemble ladder, tape measure, hammer, nails, spackle, towels, magic sponge, pencil; dim the lights and fire up the laser level!
I carefully measure the width of each new painting, divide by two, and add four inches. I climb the ladder and mark the center of where the art will hang. That four inches is the space between that painting and the one before it. Down the ladder I go. Then I measure from the stretched hanging wire to the top of the painting. I re-climb the ladder and measure that measurement down from the red laser line and mark it to align with the previous center mark. I nail in the hook. Down the ladder I go and back up with the painting. I hang that painting and descend.
To hang a painting below that one, I mark the center width of the upper painting on the wall below. Then I measure down three inches from the bottom of the upper painting plus the wire to frame top measurement of the lower painting. I mark how low the hook will go and hammer it in aligned with the center of the upper painting.
And so, this dance continues around the giant room in our mill building until my garden has been freshly planted with new paintings!
For me, the result is always worth the effort.