Packing Work for China, a new skill!

My husband attaching polystyrene to the back of my canvas

My husband and I were up very late on Monday night and into 5.am on Tuesday morning, packing my painting for its air trip to Beijing! It had been quite an effort to get the MDF box made up to the specific size (having contacted 10 carpenters, only two were willing to make the box), and to get the painting framed. We were unable to find the correct packing foam so had to use a combination of bubble wrap and polystyrene. The depth of the box was only 7.5 cm and we had to pack the painting so it would not move about while in the box. 

The painting, bubble wrapped, with me

It affirmed how good it is to learn new things because two years ago we packed a much smaller painting for the 6th Beijing International Art Biennale, and that seemed hard at the time, and here we were packing possibly the largest painting I will ever send abroad! Next time we will know exactly how to do it. I don't like to feel daunted by things so I am glad for the experience.

My husband moving the painting out to the van

After we slotted the painting into the box, screwed it up, and stuck on the labels, we had the boring job of brushing up hundreds of particles and scraps of polystyrene from the carpet! Then I had 3 hours sleep before getting ready for the shippers to arrive for collection of the work. But they had made a mistake about the day and did not come until the next day!

The box was very heavy so my husband helped carry it up the stairs to the waiting van. The driver told me that it was being taken straight to Heathrow and by the next day it would be in China. As I watched the van drive off down the road and turn out of sight, I wished my painting luck and hoped it would not get damaged in transit.

Ready to go into the van