New paintings, hot off the easel, and some thoughts on art and life ...

We recently gave a demo at Gallery 24 in Los Gatos, showing just how simple it is to hang art,

but in case you missed it, here's the summary.

Hanging art is simpler than you think - all you need is a hammer and some nails. You can use picture hangers instead of nails, but they’re not required. A small bubble level is handy, but your eye is usually good enough.

1)  Pick up the painting by its wire, then hold it against the wall at the position you want. Find the point at the center of the wire where the painting would hang from a nail.

2)  Keep your finger at that point on the wall while you carefully set the painting down. It’s best to have someone helping you; they can take the painting and hand you a nail.

3)  Hammer a nail into the wall at the point you are marking with your finger. Angle the nail upward so it will hold the painting. For heavy paintings, use two nails or a picture hanger.

4)  Hang the painting on the wire.

5)  Adjust if needed. If the painting is too high or off center, reposition the nail. If it’s not level, reposition the painting on its wire.

6)  That’s it – you’re done!

Tips and Tricks

 - Don’t get bogged down in measuring and calculating. You can do it if you like that sort of thing, but at best it’s unnecessary and at worst it becomes so discouraging that you give up on the whole task of hanging your art. Your eye is usually adequate for placing art in the right position.

 - Eye level is the best height to hang a painting. If you’re making a grouping, it’s usually best to place the main painting at that height.

 - Bumpers added to the bottom of a frame will help keep the painting level. You can buy these at hardware stores and stick them on the back of a frame.

 - Never, ever use sawtooth hangers! Paintings will fall off easily and that’s how art gets damaged.

 - Move your art around from time to time. After a painting has hung in the same spot for a long time you don’t notice it. Rotating your art can make you see it again.

Making a Salon-Style Gallery Wall

 - Choose paintings that complement each other. Usually that means they have similar colors, but they also need to have textures, frames and overall sizes that go together.

 - Don’t be afraid to mix abstracts with realistic paintings. You don’t have to stick to the same subject, either - subject matter is the last thing we consider when we create salon-style walls at the gallery.

 - If you’re hanging several paintings together or making a salon-style wall, it helps to lay out the paintings on the floor first. You can move the paintings around until you’re happy with the arrangement.

 - Avoid arrangements that are completely symmetrical. Balance is important, but exact symmetry is boring.

 - Avoid “stairstep” designs where the tops of the frames look like stairs.

 - Start hanging with the central painting. Once it’s in place where you want it you can work outward, tweaking the position of each painting.

 - At the gallery we simply patch and paint any holes that show after hanging the art.