All moves involve a high level of stress. If it also means moving all your Art Works, it doesn’t matter what value they have, they are the ones you love and that adds a little more pressure. Fortunately, there are increasingly better professionals working nowadays.
For me, it is very important that my paintings and sculptures travel with the family to what will be our new home. I can’t imagine living several years in a new house without having my art nearby. It is what really makes me feel at home.
So when we faced our last move, I let the moving company know that I would be very picky about the transportation of the works of art and I have to say that they have been great. This time it was a month-long trip by truck and ship, so it was a good challenge.
We decided together what paintings or sculptures had to go in their own boxes and which we could pack well, and I was there at their side when they were closing the boxes and wrapping each of the paintings. This was the last thing they did after the rest of the house was already packed.
In general, for the works that had glass it was enough to wrap them well by putting cardboard around them to protect the glass, while for the works on larger canvas we made custom boxes. The sculptures were also very well wrapped together except one glass one that traveled in its own box that was made to fit.
On arrival I was very alert when one by one, we were opening the packages or boxes with the Art works and I was happy to see that they had traveled perfectly. At the beginning, I was placing the paintings in the new house in the spaces that I had already thought about for them, but I did not hang them instantly; I have let them “breathe” a few days and take over the new spaces. Once I have lived with them in a place and I am happy with how they look, I can finally hang them up.
So, as you can imagine, I still have many pictures sitting on the floor in our new house! Gradually every one will find their place … safe in their new home.
