Recycle to Repurpose:

Gimme all your Hollow Core Flat Doors, Cabinet Doors maybe Cardboard et.al. You'd be surprised what is sitting right on front of you or thrown away that could've been something!

Flat or flush panel hollow core doors are the best, lightweight very rigid and stable! If you plan to wrap canvas around these doors, they easily pass for gallery-wrapped canvas with a finished depth of roughly 2 inches and rarely need any frame. These doors come in widths from 24" to 36" with most height of 80 inches. The older generation doors are better and has a thicker surface panel compare to new doors. The newer doors are overall an 1/8 inch thinner and surface panel is thin but still usable if you're going to wrap it in canvas. The older ones are versatile enough that they allow me to form some shapes by cutting out sections, on the newer ones the surface maybe too thin to support the shape after forming. You'll find that there are zizag patterns of cardboard throughout, this give the door a little more support. I can also apply pieces to the door surface and then wrap it in canvas. The best part, they will not warp or bend, very rigid and lightweight for their size. This also applies to flat panel bi-fold doors, which come in widths from 12" to 24" per panel. These sizes make the bi-fold doors an excellent start for smaller pieces!

Flat or flush Cabinet Doors that have been hanging for years are usually about 5/8" thick, if they're not warped, they will never warp which is a big plus when working with any wood product. As for Plywood, I've only used 1/4" luan, which is relatively stable and light enough at almost any size. The draw back with these 1/4 inch plywood, they will need to be framed or stabilized with a backer frame or layers (except for very small pieces). Without this, they will definitely warp or curl. However, they are so light which makes framing and hanging a breeze. I've rarely use 3/4" plywood, they sometimes end up being heavy to hang except smaller pieces.

I don't know if this is something to be proud of but I've never purchased artists' canvas or stretchers for paintings. ANY fabric work I've done, I've always used a painters drop cloth from the hardware store. Painters drop cloths come in varying degrees of flexibility/thickness. The heavy duty drop cloths make the best for textured work, they can made to almost any size due to the fact the heavy duty ones can be stretched extremely taut and will stay put, no sag and the "rougher" surface is perfect for my needs. The medium to lightweight drop cloths or fabric can be shaped. I will machine wash a new drop cloth canvas and stick it in the dryer, I want to make sure if it's going to shrink this porcess gets it out of the way. If I'm wrapping a door or cabinet door, I will use a heavy coat of house paint to surface and sides then apply the canvas while the surface is still wet, this pretty much makes it permanent after drying. Then you can gesso or prime canvas surface. There's a little more to it than this, but you get the idea and I know you'll figure it out! If you need details, just let me know. But check back here, I may add a short video or 2.

Here's a great short for stretching canvas without having the big bump in the corners!

All the above are sold! Customers and friends that know me well would often bring in wood and other misc objects they found to my studio. They knew I would never throw any of it away, clocks were the easiest things to make but some objects morphed into an awesome piece.

Rick Santiago - THEUNARTIST
theunartist@outlook.com or message me (443) 390-6599

*****