Thursday, February 17, 2011

Frames: old friends in new clothes



I will be having a small show of my work opening March 1st in a local, popular coffee shop; this will be the first time I show my work in a public space and I'm pretty excited about it. It is a popular spot and I go there frequently; there is a good mix of construction workers, students and university faculty and locals and it will be a chance to see how a rather normal "public" reacts to my prints. There is a long wall, well-lit along one side and there should be room for 12-15 prints. I've spent the last few weeks searching local, second-hand shops for vintage or used frames; and the local stores for small frames that look suitable.

Most of my work has never been framed but instead, frantically printed, put away soon after as I moved quickly on to another idea.
It's been a novel experience to haul out the big Logan mat cutter I got at a yard sale and all the mat board I've been accumulating over the years. Since all the frames are different it's been a bit of a puzzle to figure out what goes well where.
Some is just size.
I'm surprised at how many of my works are really long vertical formats (that don't want to fit in a pre-made, standard frame.
And some of the work is trying to judge wood color: cherry? maple/natural? Brown, black or gilt.

But it is slowly coming together. I have about half of them framed and a few days off next week to finish the rest.
I'll try and take some pictures too when they're up on the walls.

3 comments:

  1. Are you going to have an official opening? but sure to let your public know! I love the second hand frame thing. I was thinking once garage sale season starts of systematically buying frames (now that I have garage) in case of framing needs. IF you had a good saw you could surgically alter the frames to the right size.

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  2. I'm waiting to figure out my work schedule/commitments but I do think there will be some kind of evening event in mid-March. I will post it to facebook/Baren/etc.once I know for sure and do hope you will be able to come.

    The big help with the second hand frames is most have glass or plexiglass already cut and can be painted if they're really ugly.

    I hope eventually just to buy some milled lumber and make my own--I like simple maple/cherry frames--but I didn't have time.

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  3. Hey Andrew, congrats on getting things framed on for the show. I too have mostly prints that are the odd proportions...thin and long. The best solution besides custom sizes that I've found thus far is to buy the frames sold at Target or WalMart that have precut mats for three or four 4" x 6" or 3" x 5" photos. They work great for that 3:1 proportion. Good luck with sales!

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