What Grahame omitted to say was that stretching is our preferred method, but often these days we get in canvi (is that the plural of canvas?) that have been cut from stretchers to get them home from holiday, so not enough material left to stretch. Then and only then do we wet mount. Increasingly we are getting squint, thickly painted paintings(??) on thin cotton, which will not stretch, even if they have enough material and don't get me started on banana leaf collages!!!!Grahame Case wrote:we don't have any MDF offcuts, we do have MDF though, sort of redundant and only used for wet mounting Hong Kong Oils down to - anyone got any alternatives to use so i can eradicate MDF completely?
mdf
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Mary Case GCF
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osgood
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RobinC
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Sat 23 Jul, 2005 3:50 pm
We have often get batches of people coming in with HK oils as " art students" have been going door to door selling them as their own work to fund their way through Uni. Last week we had a variation - acouple brought in 2 original charcoal sketches that were done by Polish students. They had been treated to stop them smudging, however there will little chance of that as they were cheap prints - printed to the edge of the paper with no publishers details etc. One side of me wants to tell the customers they have been ripped off, one just wants the framing (the side that usually prevails) and one side makes me think that it serves them right for thinking they have bought a bargain from the doorstep instead of coming to a legitimate dealer in art prints (me)
I suppose we will get a few of these in this week now.
Robin
I suppose we will get a few of these in this week now.
Robin
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prospero
- Posts: 11690
- Joined: Tue 05 Jun, 2007 4:16 pm
- Location: Lincolnshire
A couple (good customers) bought me an 'oil' for reframing last year. They bought it in an auction (for about £250 I think). I was about 12x10 and in a very heavy gilt frame, which they didn't like. The painting wasn't signed, but was listed as 'European School'. As soon as I looked at it closely I knew something wasn't quite right. It was fixed into the frame with chunky square cut 'horseshoe' nails, as a lot of old paintings were, but these nails were bright and shiney. When I dismantled it all it was increasingly apparent that it was not a painting at all. It was an overpainted print mounted on a wood panel. Nowhere near worth £250. 
If it fooled the auction house and it (temporarily) fooled me, what chance do Mr&Mrs Public have with these things? They are OK if sold in a shop for what they are - fake oils (as opposed to forgeries), but once they get resold and passed around a few dealers........... 
I advised them to take it back to the auctioneers. Last I heard they got their money back.
If it fooled the auction house and it (temporarily) fooled me, what chance do Mr&Mrs Public have with these things? They are OK if sold in a shop for what they are - fake oils (as opposed to forgeries), but once they get resold and passed around a few dealers........... I advised them to take it back to the auctioneers. Last I heard they got their money back.
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Mary Case GCF
Well, are you going to let us all in on your little secret, Ormond?osgood wrote:When I was in Vegas, I took a class on how to overcome edges on canvas that are too small to stretch. Perfect solution!
We're seeing these increasingly. They're not even very pretty, quite old-fashioned looking. I usually tell the customer they've been ripped off. Never yet lost the job. Just suggest fairly simple framing (1/2" black)- cheap as chips. The customer goes off happy that at least someone in the art industry is being straight with them, As regards the "art students". We get 20" x 24" oils painted by "Dutch art students"usually but more and more "Polish art students" bought on the door step, in frequently. Busiest time for these is during the Edinburgh International Festival.You can tell them as soon as the customer comes through the door, because they always have a scabby (Scottish technical termRobinC wrote:2 original charcoal sketches that were done by Polish students. They had been treated to stop them smudging, however there will little chance of that as they were cheap prints - printed to the edge of the paper with no publishers details etc.
) cardboard "mount" taped all round with masking tape. At least you know where you are with them. They stretch beautifully and there is always enough room for stretching.-
osgood
Mary,
Mmmmmm...........I'll have to think about letting out the 'secret'. Does 'Beva' mean anything to you???
As far as HK oils and other 'simulated' artwork is concerned, I'm not sure that telling a customer they have been ripped off is the best way. These people have indeed been conned, but they don't know that and I don't really know whether it is part of my job to tell them they are a total goose for allowing themselves to be conned.
Most of the time I will treat the customer and their artwork the same as any other. Design something that will make the art look great, give them some options to consider and give them a price on which design they like. If there is a price objection, show them a way to reduce the price until they are either happy to place an order or bugger off to some other place that will do it for them for 3.5 cents.
On some occasions I will advise a customer that the artwork they have purchased might not be worth the seven uncountabajillion dollars they think it is, but in a way that doesn't offend them.
I don't think it's my responsibilty to be judge and jury in these cases.
Mmmmmm...........I'll have to think about letting out the 'secret'. Does 'Beva' mean anything to you???
As far as HK oils and other 'simulated' artwork is concerned, I'm not sure that telling a customer they have been ripped off is the best way. These people have indeed been conned, but they don't know that and I don't really know whether it is part of my job to tell them they are a total goose for allowing themselves to be conned.
Most of the time I will treat the customer and their artwork the same as any other. Design something that will make the art look great, give them some options to consider and give them a price on which design they like. If there is a price objection, show them a way to reduce the price until they are either happy to place an order or bugger off to some other place that will do it for them for 3.5 cents.
On some occasions I will advise a customer that the artwork they have purchased might not be worth the seven uncountabajillion dollars they think it is, but in a way that doesn't offend them.
I don't think it's my responsibilty to be judge and jury in these cases.
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Roboframer
Here you goosgood wrote:Mary,
Mmmmmm...........I'll have to think about letting out the 'secret'. Does 'Beva' mean anything to you???
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Not your average framer
- Posts: 11008
- Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
- Location: Devon, U.K.
- Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
- Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
- Location: Glorious Devon
If someone has been conned into buying a hong kong oil or anything else which has been mis-represented as something of value, then I will tell them the truth.
If I lose the order that's fine, the customer has a right to know and make an informed choice about how much to spend on framing their artwork or whether to frame it all.
I do not wish to cash-in on someone else's misfortune. By telling the truth, we are exposing something which is dishonest and ought to be stopped. The legal term for what these door to door crooks are doing is "obtaining money by deception". It's an act of fraud!
If I lose the order that's fine, the customer has a right to know and make an informed choice about how much to spend on framing their artwork or whether to frame it all.
I do not wish to cash-in on someone else's misfortune. By telling the truth, we are exposing something which is dishonest and ought to be stopped. The legal term for what these door to door crooks are doing is "obtaining money by deception". It's an act of fraud!
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Mary Case GCF
Glad you see it my way, Mark. I'd hate to be conned myself, so feel obliged to let these people know. They are always still perfectly happy with their purchase. With most of them it was the image that mattered, not the medium. If I had said nothing and had then gone on to sell them an expensive frame, I would have been as bad as the door to door crooks. I like to instill a feeling of trust in my customers. They invariably come back when they have something else they need to be framed.