Halloween Fun

Nice Little Compo Frame

Another Boxwood Mould

Florentine Frame

A lovely example of a carved Italian Florentine style frame from the 19th Century, new stock that arrived today. The condition is rather good considering these frames are very prone to damage and losses to the carved wood. The rebate is about 20" x 16"

Before and After

Here are some before and after photos of this fantastic swept frame, a really exceptional example of a late 19th Century Louis XV Rococo revival frame, probably French made. The frame was from my stock, although the restoration work was done by another restorer/framer as it needed doing quickly and I could not fit it in my current heavy workload. In the photos the restored frame looks very bright, this is more to do with the light when I took the photos, in reality the frame looks like it is in excellent original condition with natural wear and antique patina, although the gilding has cleaned up very well too.

Framemaker T-Shirt Shop

You can now buy t-shirts and many other different items of clothing with this antique engraving of a carved Italian leaf frame. This is the only design at the moment, but more will be added in the near future. I had some frame designs printed on t-shirts some time ago for myself, other framers saw them and a few said they would buy them if they were available, so that is what I have done.

Framemaker - T-Shirt Shop

Two More Antique Frames

Detail of the bottom section of a composition oval frame, and a nice Louis XVI style moulding frame. Both with original gilding, great looking burnish on the hollow of the French frame.

Antique Watercolour Frame

A simple but really nice little antique watercolour frame with original gilding and composition ornament. I love the colour of bole on antique frames, this dusty pink is a classic.

Boxwood Moulds

A couple of carved boxwood moulds for composition ornament that I picked up recently. These come up surprisingly often on ebay and in small and large auction houses.

Frightfest Frame

The finished Halloween prize frame, the print is by Graham Humphreys and was originally painted for the poster artwork for Film4 Frightfest 2015. This frame was very fun to make and is not meant to be taken too seriously!!

There are various types of ornament and decoration used; the skulls are cast in hard casting plaster, the monster head at the top is 3D printed, the cartouches, wings, the bottom centre ouroboros and cats eye ornament on the other three centres are all moulded in epoxy sculpture putty, the straight outer cats eye ornament is machine carved, the latin text is pastiglia, the two pentagrams are made from spaghetti and then gesso on top, lastly the symbols are oil gilt in white gold. The finish is just paint, wax, and pigments.

A Frame for Halloween

Frame T-Shirts for Sale

Following some interest in the frame t-shirts I had made for myself, from other framers and art fans, this is the first frame design that will soon be available to buy from my online shop. It features a late 19th Century engraving of a carved Italian frame. Details to follow when the shop goes live.

Antique Frames within Frames

Antique Fittings

Early 19th C Frame

An early 19th Century frame in need of restoration due to the later overpainting and various losses and damage. You can see some areas where the inner ornament is missing and the good original water gilding can be seen beneath.

Horrifying Frame Progress...

White Gold

This is one of my favourite frame profiles, it is a custom design and here it is finished in one of my regular water gilded finishes in 12 ct white gold on various bole colours.

Louis XV Carved Reproduction Frame

A good quality carved reproduction Louis XV swept frame.

Framing at the Museum of New Zealand

Here is an interesting framing article I found recently, it is about the re-framing of a painting by Nicholas Chevalier, called 'Cook Straits' (circa 1880). The painting arrived at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in just a slip frame, so a more suitable period reproduction frame was made by Matthew O'Reilly. There is also an article about the conservation of the painting.

Constructing the Frame for 'Cook Straits' by Chevalier

Competition Prize Progress

This frame I am making for a Halloween competition prize is coming along nicely. It is completely over the top, but it is fun doing creative and unusual projects sometimes... as a change from the usual antique frames, water gilded and painted frames, and regular orders.

Finished Ornament Mould

Gesso Everywhere

Making a Hard Plaster Mould

Here I am making a very simple mould for making corner ornament. A silicon impression from an original carved boxwood mould will be used to make a new mould. The stages are:

• Make a fence from scrap wood
• Fix a piece of glass to the fence with double sided tape
• Smear the glass with petroleum jelly
• Weigh out 560g of hard casting powder and measure 200ml of water
• Stick the silicone impression to the glass
• Add the plaster powder to the water and mix well
• Pour the plaster into the fence

This will make a practical mould that can be used with compo or epoxy putty, not as crisp or refined as an original boxwood mould but a good alternative.