Winston Publishing

PORTFOLIO ~ P.27 by inspecting what they have purchased. It depends on what the art is – an original could be of oil, acrylic, pastel, watercolor or pencil. "People often don't understand the differences. Oils have a thickness, a texture. They should not be under glass," she says. Regular cleaning with a feather duster is preferred. "Pastels are chalk. Those we matte and glass," she adds. That applies to watercolors, inks and more. It is best to ask an expert. Okay, so the best route of preservation is determined. Next, Hughes and the customer talk about the wants and needs of displaying and protecting the art. Then it is onto frames and/or glass. "I start with matting, depending on the customer's likes. I like double mattes - a small edge of one matte showing through the bottom of another one," Hughes says. Even double mattes aren't limited to a simple rectangle surround- ing the image. It is popular now to have the framer use a computer- ized cutter to further enhance the mattes with custom artistic cutouts that can showcase the art's title, artist's name or a related photograph and memorabilia. For preservation, a good framer knows which materials to use. Hughes says, "Everything we do is acid-free - mattes, foam board. It doesn't make a difference if (we are framing) a poster or a fine art work. Acid will yellow the piece." Around that foam-core backing, the mattes and the image, is the frame. Yes, it is just a square around the pack- age, but it says a lot. "For a long time everything was brown. People are starting to go more to the colored frames; it's more modern," Hughes adds. Atop it all is the glass. But which glass? Hughes says Regular Glass is just that. "It has protection, but it will not stop any type of fading. …Non-Glare Glass stops light (diffusion) for better viewing, but you have to stand in front or it looks like there's a film over it. And, it does not pro- tect from fading." Moving up in cost and protection is Conservation Clear Glass. It is 99 percent UV protecting, will stop fading, and people won't see a difference because the conservation technology is on the inside of the glass. "It kind of waves, but most people can't see that" Hughes adds. Above that level is Conservation Non-Glare. "The prices are quite a bit more and it is 99 percent UV protecting." At the top of the list is Museum Glass. "It is on the higher end, but it is not recommended unless you have an original or something you really want to protect - like an antique." When a customer has a print, whether a traditional lithog- raphy print done on a 4-color offset press or a now common Giclee print, final preservation depends on if it was printed on quality paper or canvas. "We do not glass canvas at all," Hughes says. "It tends to sweat and it will stick to glass." Ask the artist, the gallery or the framer about your best options. To explain the difference, Hughes says, "Giclees are a lot brighter. A Giclee printer has anywhere from 10 to 50 different colors laid down on the print, vs. the old way with four to five colors. You can imagine the color difference seen. … The cost difference is if you want a paper print or a Giclee canvas. It depends on the artist as far as prices go." Other common art-printing methods that have taken hold are the Stretched Canvas or Gallery-Wrap Canvas. For Stretched Canvas, Hughes uses stretcher bars, the size of which should not allow a print to 'give' in middle. She says that method does make the product tighter. She explains that with a Gallery Wrap, the photo goes around the stretch bars on the image side. It can loosen over time, and it is best to check back where you had it made before attempting a re-stretch. That's a lot of subject matter on Hughes' Art 101 sylla- bus, and it didn't even touch on what today's buyers want. "People are not (currently) buying limited-edition artwork; most want originals or nothing," Hughes says. Because of the former demands of buyers seeking art prints, Brighten Up Shop stocked and sold a good inventory of work from regional artists. Today, 90 percent of what Hughes sells is framing, which has changed since 2007 when Brighten Up Shop's business was 60 percent framing; sales of fine art prints were much higher then. Roughly 80 percent of her larger pieces sold are Poster Art. Another change Hughes has seen is in the way people collect art. "They used to collect one artist, say Bev Doolittle. Now, they will buy (a piece) only if they really like it, instead of buying every one that came out." Local artists see the shift, too, Hughes says. "A lot of local artists have completely quit doing prints. … I've watched it change over last few years." "We've had to be innovative just to get people in the doors," she adds. To meet the change, Hughes made chang- es late last year at her Brighten Up Shop. "What I'm trying to do now is display a picture and home décor that goes with it - similar to creating room vignettes, but without furniture…. It's brought in a lot more people." Framing solutions are equally important to both the art collector and to the artist. Framing and properly protecting artwork is critical to maintaining a work's value.

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