Hampton's Find Canvas Making During Economic Recession

According to April’s ADP Employer Services Report, employers in the private sector added 179,000 jobs last month. Although this comes as good news to America’s recession, many families are still feeling the pull from strained finances and are taking a look at all areas of life to cut back wasteful spending.

In Oxford, MS, Allen Hampton is at work in his garage. He is constructing a canvas, using scrap wood and bulk bought materials, in which his wife and painter, Reina Hampton, will use as the medium for one of her abstract masterpieces.

Hampton works for younglife, a ministry here in Oxford, and is not a trained carpenter. “To buy canvases from an art supply store is crazy expensive,” Hampton said. “This allows Reina to paint more, and to sell her art for a more affordable price. So I learned how to make them, and turns out, it’s pretty easy.”

Hampton goes through the process with ease. First taking measurements, then cutting boards to the proper length with his chainsaw. After nailing the boards together, he stretches the canvas material across the frame and uses a staple gun to secure it.

Hampton’s wife, Reina is an artist renowned throughout the south and displayed in galleries from Baton Rouge to Atlanta. “Money got tight but I didn’t want to cut back on painting,” she said. “Allen making canvases for me has not only allowed me to paint more than I usually do, but we save on average $300 a month by doing it.”

Aside from the financial benefits of using homemade canvases, the Hamptons have found canvas making to be a place where the two have grown closer. “I’m not an artist, but I feel connected with Reina’s artwork when I contribute to the canvas making,” Hampton said.

As the local and national economy begin to rebuild and recuperate, families like the Hampton’s have found that the money saving tactics they incorporated during the recession have actually improved their quality of life.

“We buy the wood and canvas material local,” Reina said. “So we know that our money is being recycled back into the Oxford community and not sent off to some huge company.”