In a world where the hand made is a disappearing art amidst big corporations and businesses taking over smaller industries, quality hardwood, custom frames for art is becoming a rarity and when it is available the price reflects the unique skill, the ever more expensive raw materials as well as the studio space and tools needed to create. I am lucky that all my medium and large art is framed in house. Frames are specifically fitted for each art piece and beautifully finished for my customers and art galleries.
The framing of artwork provides such a wonderful finishing touch. I'm always surprised at just how much more I am drawn to a painting after it is framed. At the moment, I provide all my medium and large pieces custom framed. If a buyer catches a new painting before its framed, she or he may choose the stain for the wood before its prepped for framing.
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Currently my two go to hard woods are red oak and poplar and my choice colors are black and natural wood, both finished in satin. My partner Kyle creates various thicknesses of gallery style floating frames. The thickness depends on the artwork. The stain of the wood does as well. I am considering streamlining the process for consistency as later this year I'll be starting to display my art in galleries once again.
Sometimes I create photoshop mock-ups to get a better feeling for which frame I prefer for a particular artwork. I even share these concepts with my social media followers to get their opinion. My audience is has been very thoughtful in their analysis. In both the above concepts, they preferred black which I was actually surprised by. I wondered if it could have been because both times I shared the side by side images with the black first followed by the natural wood?
I used to lean toward black for frames. But the natural, light wood is catching my attention more as of late. Still I've been torn with which direction to go. In the past, I used to use walnut as well as a dark cherry. I love all the different shades of wood but in 2022, I am trying to simplify - we'll see how that goes.
Below are a few past images of Kyle framing my other art pieces - some newer paintings as well as some of my past glass mosaics.
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| Me standing next to a newly framed painting 36"x48". |
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| A 24"x48" painting framed in a thick black floating frame. |
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| My son Ethan assisting in the framing of a 46"x 34"painting in a thick golden oak floating frame. |
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| Kyle framing a 36"x36" stained glass mosaic in a walnut floating frame. |
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| Kyle framing a 60"x36" stained glass mosaic in a golden oak floating frame. |
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| Kyle framing a 36"x36" stained glass mosaic in a cherry floating frame. |
