>It's Not About the Canvas

>

Everyone is probably wondering how I am going to finish my beaded White House when it is finally finished. For those of you who are new readers, I usually finish my bead paintings by stitching the beadwork to a painted stretched canvas. Since my White House is quite large (16" wide) and will be even larger when I am finished, I will need a good sized canvas, but not just any canvas. I want a large oval canvas.

For the past month or so, I have been searching online and emailing art supply stores to see if I can get a 36" oval stretched canvas. I even went to Utrecht, a local art supply shop in Boston, to see what they had.

Utrecht has many canvases in all different shapes and sizes, but they only had a 9" x 12" oval canvas available in the store. I asked if they could special order one for me, but largest oval they make is 20". Someone from the store told me that "The bigger sizes are very difficult to manufacture since the frame is cut from particle board on a jig and larger sizes require more cut outs in order to create a braced frame. These frames can be made specially for us, but it is not possible to do special orders on this particular product group (ovals and circles) since they don't use standard frames that we can adjust or cut on a lathe in the canvas factory, and we can't order individual pieces- it is just too expensive..." I appreciate Utrecht's honesty. I also appreciate the 30% off coupon code they gave me to make up for it! Now, I will definitely have to try their acrylic paints! :D

So, after some more internet searching, I finally found Rex Art. They carry 24" x 36" Fredrix Oval Convexo stretched canvases by the box of 4! A box of 4 of these canvases is pricey and they will have to be shipped to me. At first, I was trying not to go this route because I only need one, but I don't think I have any other choice at this point. I know that art is not about canvas and it's not about the beads - it's about ideas, but my idea is to represent the Oval Office, and I feel this can only be done on an oval canvas. Looks like I will have to place an order... What do you think I should do with the other three canvases?? :o