Behind the Scenes: Framing on a Small Budget, Part 3

Here is the third and final post in a series about Framing on a Small Budget.  In Framing on a Small Budget Part 1, I discussed where I found my frames and what I did to prepare them for my artwork.  In Framing on a Small Budget Part 2, I went into detail on how to assemble the framed pieces and finish the backs to have them ready to hang.  Now, in Part 3, I get to share with you the satisfying end result of all my efforts!

Once I had all 20 pieces ready to hang I decided to do a practice set-up to see how they might fit on the wall.  This is a great trick I learned watching a home decorating TV show a while back – when you’ve got several framed pieces to hang in a random fashion on one wall, lay it all out on the floor first.  If you’re doing this for a project at home, you can do this right in front of the wall you’ll be hanging the pieces.  My project was for an installment at a local consignment store and I forgot to measure the wall space I was going to get.  I simply estimated how much space I would have and started playing around with the arrangement.  Once I was satisfied (you can see I even left room for my artist’s statement!), I took a picture of the arrangement.  I didn’t want to feel rushed to get out of the shop owner’s way, so practicing ahead of time was key to saving time!  It was also helpful to have the photo to refer to when I installed the pieces.

When I arrived at the store, the wall space I had to work with was pretty close to the space I had given myself to practice in.  It was situated at a corner though, so I had to do some on-the-spot rearranging while I hung the pieces.  You can see from this photo that I was able to follow my practice set-up fairly closely.  Also, the shop owner asked to have a couple of them hung behind their counter, so that changed up the arrangement a bit too.  I took a picture of them all hanging and then left the shop ladies to rearrange the floor items back into the corner under my installment.

You can see how nicely the shop ladies arranged all the floor items back into the corner after I finished my installment!

A couple of final tips if you plan on doing this for an installment somewhere in your area:  1) Don’t forget an artist’s statement – many people like to find a way to connect with an artist in some way.  This is also another way to market your online presence, so be sure to include your website  2) Even though I titled each piece on the back, I placed an easily removed title “tag” to the front of each piece that also included the price.  This should make it easier for shoppers and the shop/gallery owner’s reference  3) Find out if there are tools, nails, hooks, etc. at the location or if you need to bring this with you  4) Keep track of your inventory!  Unless a store is outright buying your work for resale (this is called wholesaling on your end), you’ll be working on a consignment basis (you get a cut and the store/gallery gets a cut of the sale).  Have an inventory list to give to the store/gallery – especially if they’ll be handling the transactions for you.  Also, keep a copy of that inventory for yourself along with notes on the terms (the % you get from a sale, how long the pieces will be there, when you dropped them off, and so on).

I’m extremely pleased with how this project came out and this is now my new favorite way to frame things.  I hope these posts have been helpful and inspiring for you.  As always, I’m here to help if you have any questions about Framing on a Small Budget.  Leave your questions in the comments and I’ll answer them as soon as I can!