Eventually decided on the frame moulding. Wanted it to look old, but not appear to be at home in a castle. I had many ideas, but settled on this warm, wide, yet delicate moulding. I think it looks great, but might dislike it in 10 years time. Who knows.
This was the first frame I’ve made from scratch using V-nails that professional framers’ use. Initially, I was put off the idea as apparently the machinery is expensive. However, I took a chance on a small hand-levered bench tool and it works perfectly. Just needs a bit of care and time, but the V-nails go in perfectly. Really pleased, as I can do any frame from now on.
Choosing the shade of cream mountboard mat proved to be very tricky. The different shades of white/cream and how they appear in different light and depending on what angle you look at the card is frustrating and the choice of shades is limited when choosing the ultimate cotton museum card. I settled on this Ragmat Shoreline. Really pleased with this shade, as it blends in perfectly and doesn’t make the 400 year old map look brown. A too light a shade, the picture looks too modern and the map stands out too much. The Ragmat cotton museum card is front and back. This card is also buffered with chalk alkaline, so over the years, any acid absorption from the air is neutralised. Artbak backing board (acid free and ph buffered) and the glass is the usual Artglass AR99 museum grade. Whole package costs a lot, but this is conservation of the map and not just for presentation. Takes a fair amount of time and research to do this, but now I know, I’m doing frames a lot faster and my supplies are here ready to use.
Long been a fan of Richrd Estes’ realism works. However originals are way out of reach and prints rarer than hen’s teeth it seems. And even then not cheap.
Managed to stumble across some posters in Spain a while back and finally got round to framing one and putting it on the wall!
Not sure when this is dated from, late 1800’s I think. Thorndon Hall in it’s heyday. Near Brentwood, Essex, on the edge of the park where I grew up and my dad worked as a park ranger. He passed away last year and this is one of the few things I have kept to remember him. I bought it for him around the time of his retirement in 1995.
My wife asked Mary Ann to create a collagraph print last summer. She had previously seen a piece of her work at a friends house a few years ago and decided she would like something similar. Mary Ann is located on Cape Ann in Massachusetts is now in her late 80’s and took her several months to complete the piece. It arrive a couple of weeks ago and we picked up from the framer this afternoon. This was a quick iPhone photo prior to hanging on our bedroom wall. I will attempt a better photo with a camera and tripod to remove the glass glare if possible.
Lovely piece Fatcat, title is ‘girl with pearl earring’ and is displayed in The National Art Museum in Haque. Nothing quite like the Dutch Masters Enjoy Peter
@Fatcat The Banksy version of that painting is very cool - tucked away in a hidden corner at Bristol harbour, I think it is known as ‘The Girl with the Pierced Eardrum’ - the security alarm replacing the pearl. My photo was taken before a face mask was added last year!