Trouble stretching "canvas"

[aoeframer]

I need any advice I can get. I recently took in three very long, thin (13"x56") paintings that the customer had bought in Africa. They are painted on a substrate I can only refer to as "Heavy Duty Gauze". So in short, the fabric is thin and see-through. They are heavily primed and have thick layers of paint. I am 99% sure they were not stretched prior to being painted.

I have quite a few years of stretching under my belt, but to my dismay I cannot get these paintings taut to save my life. I can't pull hard enough, as the "canvas" wrinkles and then cracks the paint. Any advice on how to handle this? Please? I feel like I am going crazy!

Thank you in advance.

P.J.

[Roboframer]

Welcome to the forum PJ!

We get plenty of these things - all the 'body' is in the primer/paint and the fabric has no give at all; it, like many other things bought on holiday have either been painted unstretched or removed from their stretchers for ease of transport and sometimes when they have been stretched they have been cut off their stretcher to leave you no, or very little, spare fabric to work with.

This needs explaining/demonstrating to the customer and then the options need to be given ...

'Stretch' it across battens as it is, but all you can do is just take the tension and it will not be taut at all, plus, as you say, the paint can crack.

Line it with proper canvas and stretch it - but if you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig.

Stick it to a board and trim off the excess fabric.

Stick it to a board, don't trim off the excess fabric and mount/frame/glaze it as per artwork on paper

Don't stick it to a board and hinge it (probably with a few stitches rather than tape)/mount/glaze it as per artwork on paper and put up with it maybe not being perfectly flat.

[Roboframer]

Edit to above - just seen your location - for 'mount' read 'mat' - we talk funny over here.

[prospero]

I'll second all that.

Lots of these painting come from far-flung exotic locations where artist's materials are either hard to find or are too expensive, so they tend to be composed of anything that's handy. I'll swear some of the ones I have had are done on old worn out bed sheets. Some have very suspicious looking stains on the back..... The paint is generally very dubious too. Some may appear to be oils, but they could be acrylic, watercolour or a combination of all three.

If the paint is cracking under tension, the best way IMHO is to stick them down to a solid board and try to get them as square as possible. I wouldn't usually glaze an oil painting, but in cases such as these it could be a wise option. Then any bits dropping off won't get lost.

[Roboframer]

I'll swear some of the ones I have had are done on old worn out bed sheets. Some have very suspicious looking stains on the back

I read somewhere, long ago, that some of these paintings are done on burial shrouds

[Roboframer]

I wouldn't usually glaze an oil painting,

For those that are worth it (and many times for some that aren't) I'll recommend glass - to hell with 'tradition' why wouldn't anyone want glass - because you want to touch the thing? Don't do that - just look at it - if you want a painting that needs to be touched, poke out your eyes and learn braille!

Or maybe because you don't like the 'look' of glass? Well follow me ..... look at this - no glass, right? (Tap, tap) "OMG - there's glass there???" Yup - so argue your way out of THAT one then! Argue your way out of this one too "which would you prefer - pay someone (in time) to clean your oil ...... or clean a piece of glass (or acrylic) yourself"???

Mention 'breathing' and I will make you stand in the corner

[easypopsgcf]

Stick it to a board and trim off the excess fabric.

This ^^^^^

It wont be worth anything ever so treat it accordingly, pva onto plywood, job done

[prospero]

For those that are worth it (and many times for some that aren't) I'll recommend glass - to hell with 'tradition' why wouldn't anyone want glass - because you want to touch the thing? Don't do that - just look at it - if you want a painting that needs to be touched, poke out your eyes and learn braille!

Or maybe because you don't like the 'look' of glass? Well follow me ..... look at this - no glass, right? (Tap, tap) "OMG - there's glass there???" Yup - so argue your way out of THAT one then! Argue your way out of this one too "which would you prefer - pay someone (in time) to clean your oil ...... or clean a piece of glass (or acrylic) yourself"???

Mention 'breathing' and I will make you stand in the corner

Rearrange these words into a well-known phrase or saying:

With
Toffee
Chewing
Paper
On
A
The