Portia Po Chapman On Making Frames and Stretchers

Behind our favourite paintings exist an unseen construction that without, much of the art world would remain rolled up and stuffed under artists’ beds.

Transportable paintings need mounting materials.

How tight to stretch a canvas varries in options almost as the number of artists who use them. I still like to use a dollar store stretched canvas and water stained, a warted canvas board in a pinch. Us artists just have to create. Even an old bed sheet held down on the grass with rocks will satisfy our needs at times.

I grew up in a home adorned by ongoing art projects. As children, our drawings on the walls were never punished. My parents didn’t even pick up a bottle of cleaning spray. My parents would be so proud. You’d think a scribble I did on the foyer wall was their new Mona Lisa.

I was always welcome, no matter how young, to sit in on adult oriented art events and courses. One time, my dad gave the participants each a cup of black paint, a brush and led them to an inner foyer of our home. I walked proudly with my cup and brush. When we all entered the room, he instructed about 8 of us, “Paint.” The class was aghast at the instruction. Confusion as to what and where was accompanied by a laughter and a dash of delirium. What surface should we paint? When everyone just stood there shoulder to shoulder in an oblong egg shaped formation, he took my cup and brush and painting a long swath across the wall. “Here, now paint! Let the spirit of creativity move you.” You see, he had been planning this exercise for months without telling anyone. The walls were stuccoed and sealed with an opaque, non-script grey. I hated those grey walls. After that night of painting, a really special energy adorned that space. It was impossible to enter his studio without walking through it. That night, as a community of creators, we created a creation that greeted hundreds of people. Behind that collective art piece was a prepared framing of what would be a very special welcoming space. After a few years, it hit me, “ahh, now I know why he built that space in the shape it was – smacked in the centre of our artsy home. He wanted everyone to see our art.

I remember when I was about 7 years old when we took off the kitchen cupboard doors. We had very little, if any, money. The cupboards remained without doors for years. Our family has been unwilling to sell them, even though the offers for these impromptu paintings on cupboard doors still have the hinges mounted or hanging off them. One time, we didn’t even have paint. So we rigged up a medium and surface to hold that medium. The painting is a bit of plaster, a dash of purple house paint and all kinds of different spices and sugars for colour and texture. As a family, we did what we had to do. Even when it felt like the world was closing in on us, we found some way to keep creating. I spent hours upon hours searching for the right rock or tree bark to paint or use in a construction. From a young age, I learned that the proper frame, stretcher, surface, or background could be found for any art creation.

After about 2 years off of creating full-time due to education and teaching pursuits, I had to get back at it. I just had to. I considered a few options but I needed to build. I needed to get my hands dusty and covered with filler and paint. As I was going through my artistic idea journal, I was drawn back to drums and exterior wood and paper sign board. As amazing as it sounds, as soon as I found my place in my art-space of mind, commission requests came to greet me and my new drum collection found its voice.

In the following pictures, I have included some snapshots of my frame and stretcher work for these new art pieces. I am having the time my life. So much fun and so fulfilling to prepare the pieces to be painted.