Little repairs

Here are just a few small repairs I am doing at the moment, all typical damage from handling and shipping. A mould is taken from an intact section using a silicone type impression material used in medical/dental spheres, they are either two-part materials which are mixed 50:50 or a main material into which a small amount of catalyst is mixed.
I mainly use three different types; Otoform AK, Coltène Lab Putty, and Kemsil Precise. The only difference really being the shore hardness/flexibility of the mould once it has set. Once the mould is made, it can be used replace the missing sections.

I always keep these moulds, once made the material can't be used to make a new impression but it could be used on a similar repair, should the same ornament come up in the future. This is wishful thinking as finding the mould to match the frame ornament would take too long, I am just reluctant to throw them away, and have kilos of them!

You can get some mould making materials (like Vinamold) that can be reused, but they are much harder to work with though, as you need to melt the material in a saucepan and build a fence around the area you want to copy. Useful for long  running patterns, but not practical for little repairs.

Some mould making suppliers:
Alec Tiranti 

South Western Industrial Plasters
Kemdent
Henry Schein

Spray gesso

Two frames which have just had one thick coat of gesso sprayed on, these will have quite distressed paint finishes so one coat will be enough.

Silver, white gold, and aluminium leaf gilding

Black over red distressed

This post just fills in some missing photos from an earlier one, where I intended to do a step by step but missed out this stage. The other photos in the process are here: Paint finish

Metal leaf box

This box frame has been gilded with metal leaf using acrylic size (also called Wunda size), it was then sealed with an acrylic varnish before being given a coat of wax to add a little interest to the finish.

Unwanted frames

Framing work often involves taking a picture out of an existing frame and choosing something new. Sometimes the frame and mount may look a little outdated, maybe the customer just does not like the style, or heaven forbid it does not fit in with the room decor where it will hang. Some of the old frames are just discarded, anything worth keeping is offered back to the customer, artist, or gallery but they rarely want them back.

Here are just a few frames that I have got from re-framing pictures, the two water gilded and burnished 1970's frames at the front are my favourites amongst these examples, behind them there is a water gilt spoon made by John Jones Ltd in London. The frame behind the reproduction Watts (outer) is a nice shape, probably 1980's and behind this is a mid 20th C water gilt cushion frame which came off a John Nash landscape. At the back is a simple unfinished walnut flat which is a lovely wood to stain and wax.

Old oak frames a regularly discarded for newer framing (all be it usually in 'old' effect or style), when I think they look very good on old prints, pictures, and photographs. Often sadly and inevitably (and sometimes for the better) pictures and paintings are taken out of their original or later re-frames to meet new tastes.

Frames of Interest

Here is another great frame related blog that I found this evening:

Frames of Interest

It is written by conservator Berit Møller, and is a research work and detailed documentation of antique frames that were primarily made in Denmark, as they surround mainly Danish paintings.
Looks to be another really good site that will continue to contribute to the appreciation of antique frames and their importance to art history.

 

Working out of the workshop

This large 19th Century swept frame needed some small repairs to various sections of ornament and they needed doing quickly for Haynes Fine Art of Broadway. The frame was too big to fit in my van so it would have needed to be moved by an art carrier, and the paintings are always removed from their frames and kept at the gallery while I work on them at my workshop. These factors would have all added to the turnaround time, so I had a change from the workshop and did the work at the gallery:

Haynes Fine Art of Broadway.

Carved reproduction frame

This is a reproduction carved frame, lovely work, with a water gilded finish which is not overly bright and rubbed through to the bole and gesso in places. I am not entirely sure what style this frame fits into. I think it is best just described as Louis XV but perhaps it also has a Régence feel to it, which was the period immediately before Louis XV. But on the other hand... it has some more restrained elements like the straight gadrooned sides  which make me think of the end of the Louis XV period when the favoured frame designs in France went right back to much less flamboyant and more classic designs that became the mark of the Louis XVI period.
A lovely frame whatever it's called! answers or ideas on a postcard to the usual address...

Stacked or combined mouldings

It is common practice for framers to combine two or more mouldings together to create new profiles, shapes, and styles. This can be very good for replicating some older frame styles, using easily available shapes and without the expense of having profiles custom made, especially if you can modify the mouldings with a router or table saw. I think this method works best when you use barewood mouldings and are going to do some sort of hand finishing on the frames, be it paint, gesso, or gilding.
Using the method with prefinished mouldings can look as if you have just stuck different frames together, as the finishes may not match up that well, although there are exceptions where it can work very well.
The simplest example I do all the time is just a inner scoop, bevel, or flat shaped moulding used as a wide slip with an outer frame, these are glued together and then gessoed and finished as one frame. You can create some wide and stunning looking frames simply by adding a number of mouldings together. The photos above are basic examples and all modern looking, I will post some more traditional and complex examples sometime soon.

Stiller Designs

Carved French frame by Jutta Stiller.
Stiller Designs

I have followed this woodcarving blog, by carver Jutta Stiller, for a year or so. There are some lovely examples of hand carved picture frames and details of the processes involved in making truly hand made picture frames:

Stiller Designs - Frames

The Frame Blog

I follow a few other blogs and on my dashboard this evening was a post reblogged from a fantastic antique frame blog, which I have not seen before. It is written by Lynn Roberts who is a frame historian, author, and artist.
The frame blog looks like it will be a much needed resource for articles, interviews, and research on antique and modern picture frames. My new favourite blog!
If you are interested in an academic look at antique frames, their design and relationship to artworks, and in making more people aware of the importance of picture frames then have a look and follow:

The Frame Blog

Bamboo frames and silk mounts

Here are two of the silk mounts from a few posts ago. 

Float mount photo

Photo cold mounted to 5mm Foamex, floated on 10mm foamboard, in a black and silver box frame, a 20mm fillet keeps the image away from the glass.

Ultra modern

A minimal and modern looking acrylic display frame for an oil painting on panel. The white backing panel is also made from acrylic. The painting floats on 10mm foamboard. The painting is by Steven Outram RBA.

Example of bad tape

This brown self adhesive tape was used on an original drawing by a notable artist. The top photo shows the tape used to hold the undermount (a piece of backing mountboard that is used to support the art, it should be the same size as the mount) in place. The middle photo shows this tape removed and the visible staining from the adhesive, which would only have increased over time. The last photo shows one of the 6 pieces of the same tape used to hold the artwork to the undermount, fixed to the front of the artwork which is never a good idea. The crazy thing is the glazing was museum quality glass.

More mouldings

The last two mouldings have been cut for this sample, they will be oil gilded and then fixed to the frame. The next photo of this will be the end result.

Trainee projects

These are three frame projects finished today by the work experience trainee. Excellent work for a teenager, and I was impressed with how quickly she learnt and picked up the basics of finishing. 

Samples...

The two samples from a few posts ago, a little further along. The walnut offset corner has been made nice and smooth and two ripple mouldings have been glued in place. The poor fitting of the rosewood insert was intentional as my original idea was to have a moulding going around it, covering the join, although I now wish I had made it perfectly flush. This would have not taken much more work and I think the extra moulding may be a little too much. Anyway we will see how it develops.

Work experience

This week a pupil from a local high school has been spending her work experience week at the workshop. These are three of the frames she has been working on, doing almost all of the work on them herself, showing great potential as a creative picture framer!
The top frame is a paint finish with acrylic size gilding in aluminium leaf. The middle frame is another paint finish. The process for these two was an acrylic primer undercoat on the obeche timber, then two coats of lime white, and then various diluted paint stippled and flecked on, they were finished off with wax. The bottom frame has been prepared for gilding in the usual traditional way and has had some pastiglia decoration built up in gesso.

Gilding example

This is not one of my frames, but an example of another framers work. A well made water gilded and burnished frame in white gold, nice work.  

White gold frame finished

This frame is finished off with some liming wax, dry pigments, and a spray with acrylic varnish to prevent the silver leaf in the white gold from tarnishing.