Now for a fun frame

Now for a completely different and unusual frame! So I started with a couple of frames made from offcuts, a 6” x 4” and 10” x 8”, both flat square sections. These were sized and then painted with gesso. I then drew on some very simple motifs and symbols, the ones on the larger frame were built up with gesso, while on the small frame the symbols were incised with a metal scribe. Next came lots of different bole colours, and water gilding in various types of leaf. The gilding was then distressed to get the different bole colours showing through, and finally the frames were sealed. I was going to do some burnishing and punched decoration but enough is enough and that would have been a little over the top! The finished framing is a little present for my wife.

While this frame is intended as a bit of fun, I think a similar idea, using pastiglia, incised, and punched decoration could make a very unique and special range of wedding and general photo frames.

repairs

This nice period frame was falling apart at the corners and had a split and broken rebate along two sides. It has been tidied-up and made secure.

Another icon framed

This icon has been framed in an antique fluted cove frame, which has been cut down to fit. The back of the frame is extended to accommodate the depth of the icon, the Artglass anti-relective glazing, 5mm spacer, and Correx backing. The new back extension to the frame is painted and finished in gilt cream to match the existing colour, it is fixed to the frame with screws. The job is completed with an antique brass ring hanger at the top.

Dali frames

Here are three beautiful frames around paintings by Salvador Dali. Photos taken by Mrs Framemaker on her recent trip to Spain.

Insect watch

It has been a rather uneventful and best forgotten week at the workshop for one reason and another, the most exciting event happened today when we found a big grass hopper in the moulding racks. Here he is, sitting on a length of moulding.

Some contemporary framing

Here are some paintings by the artist Melvyn Warren-Smith. The winter landscape above is framed in a scoop frame with two water gilded sections and a sludgy green paint which is distressed to show the red underneath. I made a sample like this nearly 10 years ago, more out of experimentation than anything else, and this is only the second frame I have made based on the sample. That is probably an indication that it is not very popular, but I have always liked the look of it, and it is certainly not something you would see everywhere.

The two fox paintings and the fire on a beach are framed in pretty standard gilded and painted jobbies, the one fox at the top is rather drunk on vino and old speckled hen.

Another 19th Century compo frame

Here is another good quality compo frame, it is probably French, late 19th Century, and is called a Barbizon frame, although the name is associated with a number of frame styles, I think this as a classic example of the style. I have some other Barbizon type compo frames I will post photos of sometime soon.