Studio Storage: A Great, Low Cost Way to Display Art

Finding a way to display artwork in your studio without breaking the bank isn't easy. Oh sure, wire display systems like those used in galleries can be had, but they're mighty pricey. Banging hooks and nails into the wall is another option, but it leaves holes that must be filled, sanded and then painted over. And over and over.

The Not-So-Great Way

In my studio, I've been using a system consisting of metal hooks and painted 1x4s. The hooks hang from long, continuous slots Hubby made in the narrow top edge of the 1x4s. The 1x4s are painted --- what else? --- white. The whole thing cost almost nothing to make: we'd had the lumber on hand for years (originally it was supposed to become a cabinet for storing gardening tools, but that never happened.) The hooks were bought on the cheap from a company selling used store fixtures and displays.

This arrangement has worked ok, but it's not without its flaws. When the humidity level rises, the wood swells a bit and it can be hard to insert the hooks into the slots. Large paintings lay fairly flush to the wall but small ones don't. They angle sharply downward. And trying to slip a picture wire onto a hook can be a little hairy when the painting is heavy and I'm teetering on a step stool.

The Pure Genius Way

So when my good friend and fellow artist Rebecca Salcedo emailed me about the amazingly clever -- and oh so affordable -- display system she created for her studio, I took one look and said, "That's pure genius!"

Rebecca's super simple DIY display system: a 2x2 and a length of wide molding. Paintings lean against the wall with no danger of falling because the lip on the molding serves as a stop.  Photo ©Rebecca Salcedo

If you can operate a drill, you can duplicate Rebecca's system. I kid you not. All you need to do is fasten a length of molding to a 2x2 cut to the same length. Then screw the 2x2 into the wall. What could be easier?? Rebecca left the shelf unpainted in the photo above to show how it's constructed.

Rebecca's shelving system lets you display works of all shapes and sizes. Paintings lean against the wall but are not fastened to it. They're held in place by the lip on the molding. Note the five paintings below the shelf. To double her display space, Rebecca simply laid a length of molding (minus the 2x2) directly on her desktop surface. Photo ©Rebecca Salcedo

Rebecca says there are actually multiple ways you can construct the shelving depending on your skill level and tool inventory. She provides step by step tutorials for all of them on her Smelly Rhino Studio blog. Take a look. You'll be amazed at just how do-able this project is! Everything you need, which isn't much, is readily available at your local Home Depot or Lowes. And you won't have to take out a second mortgage to afford it, either.

What's Not to Love?

What I like about Rebecca's design, in addition to its simplicity and affordability, is its flexibility. Paintings can be shifted around so easily. They can be displayed without hanging hardware, enabling you to offer buyers more choices at the point of sale. With this system there's no need to ever again wrestle a painting onto a wall hook. Finally, all pieces on display face outward at the same angle, lending the entire grouping a clean, organized appearance. I can't think of a better way to display art during studio open houses, gallerists' visits and private showings. As soon as I can get over to my local home center, I'll be adopting Rebecca's method.

What kind of display system do you use in your studio? Does it work for you? Would you choose it if you had to do it over again? Please share you thoughts by clicking the No comments/Comments link below. Thanks!

Text ©Lynn Edwards
Images ©Rebecca Salcedo
All rights reserved

Painting an Artist Trading Card or ACEO with Sponges

Why is it the art I seem to be most satisfied with are the pieces created "off the cuff?" Yesterday was a good example. I had been dipping the ends of some fabric beads in iridescent silver paint. When I finished, there was about a teaspoon of paint left over.

I didn't want to toss it, or wipe it off onto the cloth I was using for a cleanup rag. Instead, I decided to see if I had an old or unfinished painting I could stamp onto with the silver paint. Maybe it could rekindle my enthusiasm for some orphaned project. So I went looking in my stash for a suitable piece to work with.

The perfect candidate turned out to be a 2 1/2x3 1/2" artist trading card my friend Rebecca Salcedo had given me a few years ago. Rebecca is both a decorative artist and a fine artist. She had been experimenting with faux paint treatments for a client's walls, and had created several of these little cards to test various effects and color combinations. One afternoon she had stuck her head in my studio door (at the time we were both tenants in a communal studio space), handed me two of the cards and said, "Here's something to start some tiny paintings with." Intending to do just that, I had placed them in a drawer. Where they languished until yesterday.

One of the cards featured a bit of texture on its surface. It was painted a mid-value grey, lightly glazed with what looked to be a mixture of Pthalo Blue and black, making it an ideal blank slate. Eureka! The leftover silver paint would look great with those colors. I got right to work.

A 2 1/2x3 1/2" abstract, painted entirely with sponges.

Instead of a brush, I decided to use itty-bitty sponges. These were actually pieces of a large sponge I had previously cut up for another project. Back then I had used the pieces to stamp small squares onto a canvas. The biggest of the bunch was about the size of a thumbprint, the smallest about the circumference of my middle finger.

Painting with sponges was a way to leave my comfort zone and give something different a try. It's part of my New Studio Mantra: new digs call for exploring new directions. Since moving into my new space, I've been doing just that and having a ball, inspired in part by a book titled Mixed Media Revolution: Creative Ideas for Reusing Your Art by Darlene Olivia McElroy and Sandra Duran Wilson. Already Sandra and Darlene have led me down several new pathways to creative opportunity.

Doing this little sponge painting was great fun. I held no expectations for its outcome, just allowed myself to play and dabble. In addition to the Iridescent Silver, Carbon Black, Titanium White and Payne's Grey rounded out my palette. I learned quickly to use the very lightest of touches when applying the loaded sponge to the paper, or a big blob would result that had to be covered up. The sponges' textured surfaces created a delicate, yet intricate interplay of colors; layering and veiling and layering some more produced a remarkably detailed level of complexity my clumsy photography can't capture adequately here. Nor can it capture the luminous glow the metallic silver paint infuses.

As I worked on this I was fully in the Zone, dabbing away and enjoying every minute as the painting took shape. When I finished it, I noticed it looks equally good turned in any direction, and because the silver paint is reflective, each orientation looks very different from the others. It's like four unique little paintings in one!
©2013 Lynn Edwards 









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