An interesting video about the making of a replica ripple moulding machine. There was another good video on YouTube about waveform machines but I can't seem to find it now. There is some more info on these mouldings in a blog post from a few years ago, here: Ripple Mouldings.
Sunday
Making Waves - A framemaker re-engineers a 17th century artform
An interesting video about the making of a replica ripple moulding machine. There was another good video on YouTube about waveform machines but I can't seem to find it now. There is some more info on these mouldings in a blog post from a few years ago, here: Ripple Mouldings.
Met Museum Online Archive
A quick search on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website brings up a large number of frames, some on display and others not. Below is a tabernacle frame by Stanford White (which is not currently on display), and the wonderfully decorated 17th C French cassetta frame. Great to see Museums putting the frames in their collections online.
Friday
Thursday
Old Work
Throwback Thursday to this frame made years ago, blue and green bole with 12ct white gold gilded finish. I liked how this one turned out.
Wednesday
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Here are a few frames I liked on a recent visit to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Last time I went a couple of the rooms were closed, and they now have a new Baroque gallery display. The post about my previous visit (here) complained about the lack of anti-reflective glass and this is still a nuisance on many of the paintings, and for me negatively effects the viewing of the paintings.
Antique Frames Reused on Impressionist Paintings
A few frames seen in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. 17th and 18th Century frames that have been used on works by Renoir, Sisley, Pissarro, and Degas.
Distressed Gold
Both of these frames are gilded with 23.5ct gold, the one on the left on red bole, the one on the right is on black bole. The bole colour has a distinct effect on the colour and appearance of the gold leaf.
These two are both 12xt white gold, one on red and the other on brown bole.
Friday
Thursday
Early 19th C Frame
This early 19th Century Regency frame had numerous losses to the composition ornament, and was also very dirty.
Carved Cassetta Frame
A lovely 19th Century revival carved copy of an Italian 16th? C cassetta frame.
Gesso Frames
Making up a batch of gesso, which will keep in the fridge for a week or so. In England gesso is traditionally made from whiting (calcium carbonate) and rabbit skin glue (animal hide type adhesive) other fillers such as gypsum - calcium sulphate, and adhesives such as parchment size and gelatin can also be used. There are also a number of non-traditional recipes, but in my opinion the best material for creating a smooth surface on frames is whiting and RSG. It is such a simple material to make and work with, and is very versatile.
Gesso coated frames drying, only a couple of coats were needed to fill the wood grain on these two frames as they were finished with paint and bronze powder gilding.
A gesso frame with low relief pastiglia stars (pastiglia decoration is made from building up layers of gesso)
A very wide frame profile which had 5 coats of gesso applied, totally filling the wood grain, covering the corner mitres, and providing a very smooth surface for gilding.
Freshly sprayed on gesso, this is just one coat.
Small frame with heavily textured gesso surface, created by using a brush and just by applying gesso thickly and unevenly, this frame had about 6 coats of gesso.
Wednesday
Gesso Wash Frame
A really simple frame finish, with a couple of coats of gesso, two paint colours, a paint wash, and finally a coat of wax.
