What Should I Do With My Old Art?

Even if you're not a particularly prolific artist, when you paint long enough, sooner or later you'll find yourself with a bunch of old paintings. If you have unlimited space to store them or a large family willing to accept your gifts of art, you're all set.

But what if you don't have a lot of storage or a big family (or family members willing to receive your art)? What do you do with all those old paintings?

Here's a painting that's over ten years old. It was from a series I made for a specific show in 2003. Although it's lost a lot of its panache, it's still my favorite of the bunch.

But it's been over ten years now, and there it is, still hanging on my wall. So let's use it as an example of ways you might reuse or recycle your old paintings.

1. Repackage it with a new frame

Let's start with something simple. Maybe all it needs is a new frame. I had one large colored pencil painting that went through two framings before I found the right solution. Granted, it took a willingness on my part to pay someone with framing expertise to finally get things right, but it was worth the effort.

Here's a photo of the current frame I have on my painting. Pretty plain, right?

That could be the reason I still have the painting. The target market for this type of painting generally prefers more ornate and classical frames. Finding a frame that fits that description could very well result in a sale.

If your paintings or drawings are representative of your current work and are good enough for exhibits and shows, try a simple "frame lift" first. This doesn't have to be an expensive exercise. If you have a lot of paintings or drawings that are the same size, just swap frames and see what happens.

With works on paper, you might need to change only the mats or maybe just the frame to find a better solution. Another option is to try a remarque. A remarque is a small original sketch drawn on one of the mats and "framed" by a second or third mat. Pair it with a title plate (brass of course) and that might be all you need to do to spruce up that old drawing and make a sale.