Skilled XS vs. Not-So-Skilled XS

When you have a problem deciding about a Frame or displaying way , just take a photo of the work ,,, and lay out on a table , pieces of colored papers and cloths , and some pieces of materials that look like frames [or use frames you have ,, put the photo of the work on those backgrounds , till you find the Background /frame you like ,, leave it there for a night , look again next day [or two] , if you STILL like it ,,,, you might be sure it is YOUR taste ,,, and you can treat the work in with such a background or frame. This idea works for hanging exhibitions as well , I see the photos some days before hanging day , than lay the works around the gallerie in their intended places , hang them , go home and come and check if i am still happy ...

mirjam mirjam

BFA???

And yes, I've seen a MLI come in and leave with the entirely wrong frame. The frame took away from the piece - but the customer wanted that frame and insisted on it. White and gilt were all wrong. One of the simpler gold frames would have been much better.

Cheryl

Ah if we're talking about footless angels in flowing robes, yes I can see lots of fussy mats and frames - but then - they wouldn't be coming to my house lol None of it is to my taste.

Though I am not suggesting one would frame a picture with general decor as the guideline, I do frame to suit the picture, it is possible to have the same thing framed differently and look good. I particularly notice this when our local Guilds have an exhibition in the summer, many times the same piece shows up and it is very intriguing to see them stitched with different threads, on different fabrics and then framed differently. So intriguing, that those doing the hanging for the exhibit nearly always hang like with like so they are easy to compare.

Geez, I wish I had visited you in time ! My bedroom is my Rogue's Gallery where the walls have all family pics going back to my great grandparents. One thing I have found is that the frames would either have to be identical or as they are, totally dissimilar. Near misses don't work.

Now that I'm looking at frames with a different set of eyes, I have to disagree. An ornate frame can seriously detract from an ornate piece. Trust me on this - I've seen some pretty horrid combinations.

Cheryl

Wow - that sounds interesting! Next Florida trip - I'm coming to see it!

Ellice

Pretty understandable. I have one painting that was my folks - it's an impressionist piece of a woman tying a head scarf - very impasto - lots of greens/pale golds - and in a very ornate frame. I quite like it - my DM didn't - as she kept thinking it was a Madonna (not). We actually have a wall in the DR which we had wired to be able to plug in an art light on the frame -without seeing cable (plug is in the middle of the wall, behind picture). But, there's space and it works with our eclectic mix.

OTOH - going too far minimalist - many years ago when I was about 9 my DA gave me a beautiful charcoal darwing of a girl stepping forward from a walkway, with her younger brother sitting on a fence behind her. The girl has long hair, a hat, muff, high-button shoes, and the little boy dressed of the era. IIRC it was done late 19th century. There's beautiful white pastel highlighting - still visible. She found it in some antique shop, and bought the picture for me - without a frame. So, after bugging my folks for a while, evidently they decided to do something expeditious, and gave it to our neighbors that owned a serious art gallery on Miami Beach (with of course an affiliated framing shop). So, this very sweet, antique piece got framed in a very modern, shiny, aluminum frame (a good size, but)..

It's actually in with much of the art we're getting ready to put up - but this one is being finally re-framed. I've had it for so long - and am always amazed that I hadn't changed out the frame!

Ellice

Interesting. IME at the framers, there are people that use similar frames - for doing all the photos in a staircase, or a room, etc. Sometimes I would think (as would the owner) they've gone way toooo conservative in convincing themselves they all have to have the exact same molding, the worst - someone wanting the same mat on a bunch of portraits - and the color was horrid on one of them. After the husband returned 2 times, finally we had the wife come in as well, and were able to change the mat on the latest, and some others.

In all fairness, framing companies like Larson-Juhl have families of some moldings - not just the 7 colors - but the different diameters, as well as some may be slightly larger/smaller with an additional level or slightly different edge inner or outer. So, you can have a feeling of sameness without it being all identical - but the moldings will work together so you can suit the pieces without looking all mish-mashed and too busy. I've seen some lovely groupings of assortments that are done with a "family" of moldings. But, as with all these things - it's a matter of seeing the whole and the individual pieces, and personal taste.

Ellice

Ah, but Cheryl - don't you personally tend to more simple tastes???? It can go either way.

A few years ago we were in San Diego and there was a museum exhibit on the "History of Framing" which we had to go to. It was fascinating. Frames until the latter 20th century - were also part of an artist's conception. They would have their particular skilled framemaker - who did custom carving to suit the artist's work. Framemaking was an artisan skill.

IMOSHO, the carving of ornate frames can go either way with a piece - it is in the details - does the carving echo a design element, or complement it - add to the entire esthetic - or is it a counterpoint? Or a distraction. The issues now often in the less expensive but really large and ornate - the quality of the gilding can be too bright, the carving not appropriate.

It's all a matter of taste.

Ellice - who wishes at times she really could just own a frame shop

You mean come in time to go home with a completed and framed Great Blue Heron? Ya never know there Sheena...ya nevah know.

Taking it further, if a stitcher hangs their work together or on the same wall exhibit style, I also think the fabric color and texture should be similar. There is nothing worse than awful color clashes.

Nah - there are the ones that I wince at and the ones we all cringe over. Once in while, the customer picks something that truly doesn't work and you just have to accept that. One combination was a mostly ivory MIL angel done on pale blue (to the violet side). Mats were dark blue green and shiny gold with a frame we (in the shop) call caramel sundae with cherries. (it is a truly frothy frame) It just plain did not work

I have found I really like the entire process of framing; maybe if I wasn't worrying about college and the general state of the economy... C

Bachelor of Fine Arts

Well, sure. It's not just ornate vs not ornate, it's what compliments the picture.

Elizabeth

But was that simply because it was ornate, or because it was the wrong sort of ornate? Perhaps I should say substantial instead. I don't like flimsy frames on large pieces.

Elizabeth

Sure, but nothing about that one worked from what you're saying. The mats should have picked up the ivory or been slightly darker than the fabric (with perhaps an ivory fillet) and the frame should have complemented that but that doesn't meant it couldn't be ornate, just not the ornate that was picked.

Elizabeth

This is where diplomacy comes in. I've taken stuff to my framer and said "I'm thinking ____", and he'll reach into his bag of tricks and offer up an alternative that works much better.

I mean, not that I come up with something that totally clashes -- I have more color sense than that -- but that he lays my mat choice on one corner and his alternative on another corner, and I can really see how his idea works better than mine.

In my case it's often the opposite. They will come up with their ideas and I nearly always want to tone down the color of the mat.

I guess that's why there are so many choices.

Better choice of words - a big piece needs a larger dimension frame. And the wrong ornate frame is good too....

Cheryl