Strong opinions about glass.
I don’t hate glass. In fact i’ve marveled at ancient glass vessels in various museums that live rent free in my mind for years.
Like these:
Glass Ribbed Bowl, Roman, mid-1st century CE
Roman, Cypriot, probably 3rd century CE
I do however LOATHE the way glass bounces light off pastel artworks when they are framed. Putting pastel works behind glass feels like taking nature photos through a car window, with the flash on…
Trying to get a casual photo of this baby before I sent it off to Smörgåsbord. (Problems with glass.)
IMO, the magic of pastels, is their vibrant hues, and their velvety texture. The way light is absorbed and held within the medium. Pulling you into the art. The softness that makes you want to touch it.
Framing pastels with out glass is possible. I’ve done it, and it’s how I display my art in my own home.
If you read any online forums, people have VERY strong opinions about framing pastels. You must have glass they say, you must use spacers. If you don’t you must be crazy and you’re obviously not a professional and how can anyone trust you. Well call me crazy cause I know it’s possible.
I discovered Spectrafix fixatives in some deep dive of internet magic. They use all natural materials and a recipe that goes back to Degas himself. (!!!!!)
If painting sales are slow, I start to worry that people are afraid of the no-glass approach. Buying a piece or original art is an investment. If the piece can’t withstand the environment, will it loose its value?
I’ve actually emailed with the owner of Spectrafix to make sure I understood their products properly. She was very nice and shared with me other more established artists that use Final Fix to frame without glass. Including the pastel painter and climate activist _____________-.
During my painting process, I’ll hit the piece im working on with Spectrafix’s Degas Fixative a few times as a layer to hold the pigment in place. Especially if I have to leave the studio and walk away from the art for a while. If the paper blows off the table or my cat walks on top of it, it give a light layer of protection.
This is what’s considered a working fixative meaning, it’s not permanent.
At this stage you can use it to wet your pastels and blend them like paint. It’s a pretty easy way to get pastels to look more like watercolors or paint….
Apparently Mr. Degas used to use it this way. Pretty cool to do things the same way Degas did 😭.
When im done working on a piece and im ready to frame it, I spray Spectrafix’s Final Fixative in light layers over the artwork.
With beeswax and casein, the pastels are adhered to the page. As it dried it hardens and becomes water resistant. Like waxed canvas is water resistant. As in, you don’t want to submerge your paper in water but you can wipe the piece with a wet rag and the pastel pigment won’t budge.
no glass, no glare, totally wipeable.
