Sending large paintings to the US

Hey guys,

Some of you already know that my husband and I are leaving the DR in just over two weeks time (for work as well as health reasons). We've been working on this move for a while now and have we almost everything sorted out.... except one big thing.

Hopefully someone can advise me on the best possible method of safely sending three large oil paintings which were painted on that very hard canvas which cannot be rolled or folded. The largest is about 5 ft. in height and 2-1/2 feet in width. The other two are shorter but a little bit wider. I've already checked with the airlines and they don't do cargo out of Puerto Plata but we've already been ticketed via American Airlines out of Puerto Plata.

I simply cannot leave these three paintings behind as they were painted by my now deceased Dad, as far back as 1966. They are the only paintings of his that I own (my wicked step-Mom has possession of his entire arsenal of artwork). I've been told that shippping companies here are not to be trusted and will only set me up for severe heartbreak after charging me a fortune. Can anybody help me out there? I've got only two weeks left. I'm desperate.

In case you're wondering how I got the paintings here in the first place, when I came here I shipped everything in a container. But after the nightmare of doing that, we decided to sell everything here in the DR and only take back our clothing and personal items (like the paintings).

I await all responses.

headnerd said:

Try UPS at the Santiago airport. According to their web site, they can handle the paintings if they are boxed properly... my guess is it won't be cheap.

Generally, with UPS, if it's something important, I prefer to make the drive to the Santiago airport as they are a lot more organized there than at the North Coast locations.

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Thanks headnerd, but we can't get to the Santiago airport. We've just about sold the car and will not have transportation after a couple more days. We'd have to take the paintings with us. That just won't work. Thanks anyway.

JRMirador said:

I suggest dismounting the painting from its frame, and rolling up the canvas. There are specially sized cardboard tubes for these item in the market. UPS, FedEx and other courier companies should be able to provide them.

Mirador

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Oh Mirador, I guess you didn't understand my post. You cannot dismount the painting from it's frame. There is no frame other than a regular picture frame which I've already taken off. These were painted many years ago by my Dad, who only painted in oil on very hard canvas. It's like a really think, hard board. That's the best way I can describe it.

JRMirador said:

In that case, a special wooden crate would have to be built for the paintings. Any courier would ship them, just have them properly insured.

Mirador

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Now I just got to your second post. You say any courier? Well, I'm waiting to know the names of those who can make such a wooden crate. I've already been to UPS in Cabarete. They just looked at me like I was crazy. They wouldn't even quote me any prices based on weight.

JRMirador said:

Oh, Trabajadora, I just realized what it is. It's called canvasboard, and can be obtained in most art supply shops. I used it for my first paintings. I had a buyer who bought all I could produce, I did hundreds of them. Until I burned out. Then I went into canvas fabric, on wooden frame, which I primed myself. I also did hundreds of these, but I went broke, and burned out again. Haven't painted since. The last one was dated 1977.

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Really? So you're an artist too! Maybe now's the time to start again JR. My Dad was always an artist. He did it as a side thing simply because he enjoyed it and he was good. But his "real" job was as a technical illustrator for the U.S. Army Tank Arsenal in Michigan. My very first memories in life are of the smell of turpentine, oil and acrylic paint. He used to paint for hours while jammin' to "real" jazz music. What memories. I really miss my Dad and I just can't ever part with my paintings. That's all I've got from him.

rellosk said:

Did you check with all the airlines or only AA?

I would think that some of the airlines would consider the painting oversized luggage and not cargo (but that may only apply if you are actually flying on that airline).

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I was told you have to be flying on that airline. Yes, I checked with AA as that's who I'm flying with. They said I had to call cargo. I did that and was told they don't do cargo out of Puerto Plata, which is where I'm ticketed from. They only do cargo out of Santo Domingo. Thanks anyway. I'm going to follow a lead I got earlier and see what I'm told.

Drro said:

Can't you have them crated and check them as luggage with AA? It's cheaper than other suggestions and then you have them with you when you arrive (hopefuly)?

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Drro, I'm investigating on having them crated up on Monday. But I checked with AA yesterday and they cannot go on as luggage. That would be considered cargo and POP doesn't do cargo. We're already ticketed to fly out of POP so I cannot send them cargo out of STI or SDO either. Thanks for trying to help anyway.

ben oregon said:

a wooden crate is very simple to manufacture .Any body on the side of the road who worck with wood should be able to build you one,just make your painting float with a 2inches suroundind into the crate that willallow buffer filer to secure the piece. To bad you could not wait , i could build one for less than USA$10 for you.
good luck!!!

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Ben oregon, what did you mean by "too bad you could not wait"? We're leaving on Nov. 20; how much time do you need to build a wooden crate for me? In the meantime, on Monday we're planning to try to find a way to send a wooden crate IF we find someone to build one. That's the second challenge.

villaleone said:

I agree the crate method is the only way to go. If shipping by air is out of the question due to budget reasons, you can look into surface shipment out of Puerto Plata. It should not take more than a week or two to get to your destination. I have shipped from the states to Sint Maarten many times with good results. I have never shipped out of the DR, so, I'm not sure of what you are up against in that respect. The price should be very reasonable though.

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Villaleone, it appears that surface shipping might be our only option out of Puerto Plata. I don't know of anyone who has shipped something like this before from here though or what shipping company they'd recommend. It seems like doing anything from the DR like this is a real gamble in terms of reliability, not to mention cost. This whole thing has me going slowly into a depressed, sad state of mind. Just trying to grasp the idea that my Dad's paintings may be lost to me forever if I have to leave them here.