Hangin'

"Hey dude, how's it hangin'?"

"A little bit to the left."

How's it hangin': an informal way to say hello to a fellow dude. All it really means is, "how you doin'."

"How's it hangin'?"

"Pitiful!"

Have you ever walked into someone's home and had to control yourself not to walk over to a piece of art and rehang it? I have.  Look at all the problems in the room above: all lined up in a row, too high, table and chair too small.  Me, hammer, and 45 minutes: I could bring furniture into scale by repositioning the artwork, elongating it, using correct spacing, better mixing sizes and framed/unframed work.  Get rid of that shit on the table.  What difference a lamp would make.

Quick tips for do-it-yourselfers:

Use picture-hanging hooks, rather than heavy nails or screws. Although they may seem dainty, they are very secure. It's all based on weight. Buy the right type of hook for your artwork's weight.  One-nail picture hook holds things that are 30 pounds or lighter. A two-nail picture hook holds pieces that are about 50 pounds. A three-nail picture hook holds pieces that are about 75 to 100 pounds.

Recruit a helper who can hold pieces against the wall before you begin hammering.  Take a step back to see what the piece is going to look like there.  Get a sense of the proportions and colors, see it against all the other elements.

When hanging a single piece of art, the center of the picture should be about 60 inches off the ground, which places it at eye level.  This is considered "museum height." When done throughout an entire home, it creates a visual line, keeping your eye at a certain height.  And you don't even know it.

When hanging a grouping of works, treat them as one large picture (whether they're the same or different sizes). Find the center point between them, and use the same 60-inch rule.

 
One of my favorite styles of hanging is a series presented in a tight grid, with the frames touching.  Butt-to-butt. Cheek-to-cheek.  This is an extremely complicated hanging, requiring a lot of math. And patience, which I do not have.  I had this professionally hung.

 

The original Paris Salon exhibited paintings floor-to-ceiling and on every available inch of space. My version of a salon-style hang.  Dramatic, mixing European and American paintings, set against red walls.

I'm great lover of art. One of the things I enjoy the most is curating and rehanging a client's collection. So enjoy going through a client's home, surveying their art, and giving them new life in different spaces, positioned with pieces that enhance each other.  Repositioning a collection, and hanging properly, can totally give the home a feeling of major alterations (altercations).

Jerry Douglas & The Earls of Leicester, "I Won't Be Hanging Around"