March 2025 Newsletter: Canvas Problems, Recent Work, News & Upcoming Events

Canvases Bowed, Warped & Out Of Square

I’ve recently had a couple of clients, both accomplished and well-established artists, bring me canvases to be restretched. This happens from time to time, but with the ubiquetousness of cheap, imported canvases into the country these days and the concomitant decline in quality, it seems to be happening more often. Thin pine stretcher bars, held together with staples, have a tendency to warp or bow and the flimsy bracing offered at the back seems, to me at least, to be more for show than anything else. But the problem is that such defects are often subtle and it is unlikely that the naked eye will spot a discrepancy of 5mm or so until it’s time to frame the finish piece or place it on a wall next to another, at which point it becomes sadly all too obvious.

Restretching a canvas is pretty straight forward, but if it has already been painted and the image features a horizon line or solid verticals these may appear to be similarly warped once the stretcher itself has been straightened or replaced. Also, in the case of a canvas which was previously painted with a solid edge, you might now find what was part of the side has now crept around to the front or that a part of the original image has slipped around to the side. Unfortunately there’s no trick which can be employed during restretching to fix this so repainting may be required. In most cases it’s just a matter of a couple of quick touch-ups, but it’s still a pain (particularly if you’re on a deadline with a gallery) and, ultimately, it’s just easier to be in the habit to check that your canvas is straight before you begin painting.

It would seem the most obvious way to check would be to use a carpenter’s square on the corners, but this can be misleading and, for larger canvases not accurate enough. A better technique is to measure the canvas diagonally from one corner to another and then take another measurement of the opposing angles. In an ideal world, you’ll find they are the same, but if they’re not you simple halve the difference and that will tell you how out of square your stretcher is. For instance, if there is a 10mm difference in measurements then the canvas is 5mm out of square. Now, I said “in an ideal world” just before because there often will be a slight discrepancy. Indeed in our imperfect world it sometimes seems as though finding a perfect square is as difficult as finding a perfect circle, but a canvas which is 2mm or 3mm out is unlikely to present a problem and when I make float frames for canvases I usually allow for as much because it’s actually quite common in my experience. If it’s more than that and the bars are adjustable, it’s possible that you might be able to push the stretcher back into square without having to remove the canvas itself. If the bars are fixed, then I’m afraid the only option is to build a new stretcher.

The best method to check for warping or bowing is to use a metal ruler or a straight edge or else to hold the canvas something you know if more or less flat, such as the floor or a wall. Lie it flat on the floor and gentle press down on one corner at a time; if they’re not sitting flat or if one corner pops up when you push another down then your canvas is warped. This is less of a problem if you’re planning to place the finished piece in a float frame because it is secured in place with screws and the frame can hold it flat. If you’re planning to hang it as is, then you might find it doesn’t sit nicely on the wall. This might not bother you, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re hoping to sell your work. Place a straight edge or long ruler against the side, or lie the side against the floor to check if any of the bars are bowed. If they are, there’s nothing to be done to fix that other than replacing the stretcher.

If you do find any defects with a pre-stretched canvas, it’s not the end of the world. The problems described above can be fixed quite simply and relatively cheaply, though the restretched piece may require touch-ups. Of course, it’s tempting to say “just don’t buy cheap crap” but this would be simplistic as much of the cheap crap available these days is still pretty good and much that is sold for higher prices under the aegis of reputable brands is often not much better. In the end there’s no substitute for taking the time to check for yourself.

Recent Work

Here’s an interesting piece I completed last month. It’s a bow and arrows from Papua New Guinea. The arrangement of the objects was chosen by the client and they are held in place with a few strategic loops of fishing line. Similar to how I approach frame sports guernseys, I try to be as sparing as possible with the mounting points. I also printed a small historical map of the region to be included in the frame to give it a bit more of the feel of a museum piece. The frame itself had to be quite deep to accommodate the bow and the finished dimensions were 1020mm x 970mm x 60mm. The frame is made from ebonised Tasmanian oak (with an extra coat of tea to darken the wood), finished with black polish and beeswax. Obviously this is not the sort of thing I do every day and such jobs often seem a bit complicated at first but are actually strangely relaxing once it comes time to put the whole thing together. Sometimes it’s nice to spend half a day on one large, complex job than to move from one small thing to the next.

News & Upcoming Events

Hamish Fleming and Brenton Dreschler have works coming up in a group show titled “Commonality” at Gallery M, (Marion Cultural Centre, 287 Diagonal Road, Oaklands Park). It runs from March 22 to April 26 with the opening on March 28 at 5:30pm.

My poem “Accidents Happen” won fourth place in the Society Of Classical Poets’ Best Poems of 2024 competition. I won’t pretend I wasn’t a little disappointed in myself since I managed to take second place in 2023 and third in 2022, but business has left me with less time to devote to my create work these past twelve months and the Society has published some exceptional pieces in that time so, frankly, I think I was fortunate to place as highly as I did.

I will also be a guest on ThreeD Radio's "It's Always Rock'n'Roll" on Monday March 24th at 11pm. I'll be on for the full two hours playing a selection of obscure prog, psychedelic rock and maybe some synthwave from around the world. It should be fun if you're up late on a Monday night.