re stretching a painting

[theboy]

i have a painted canvas that has been sans stretcher bars/frame for a while. i had it just tacked to my wall, but it wasn't ideal.

i want to restretch it. i bought a staple gun, measure, went to the art store, but now i've hit a road block. the painted section measures 29.5" by 39". unfortunately i cannot find stretcher bars that are 29.5" ANYWHERE

but then i started thinking that maybe theres a reason they use the word "stretch"

so, do i by stretcher bars a little bigger than the painted surface and hope that i can make up the difference by stretching the canvas? or do i get stretcher bars a little too small and hope it doesn't look too weird?

i'm thinking getting stretcher bars that are 30" by 39". does that seem right?
_________________
'Where do you get your ideas from?'
'From forgetting Dostoyevsky and reading road signs backwards, naturally. Where else?'

[Aryn]

I'd go smaller and let the painting wrap around the edges, unless you're planning to frame it. google "gallery wrap" for how to staple it on the back.

And it's not going to stretch much if it's already painted. You just want it taut.

if you were stretching a canvas pre-painting, you can really stretch the hell out of it, but once it's painted I think it would probably crack if you stretched it too much.
_________________
Are you familiar with the old robot phrase "DOES NOT COMPUTE"?