Smoothing the Edges

A fantastic project I had the opportunity to work on involves a common issue with custom picture framing: the corners don’t match up. This is a problem you get especially on frames that have a dramatically heavy relief or texture to them, and frames that have some sort of sculpted pattern. At Coventry Gallery and Framing, we have a solution to this common issue: we sculpt the corners by hand.

The moulding itself comes in long sticks of wood. I receive them in eight to ten foot lengths which I then cut down into four pieces with perfectly beveled corners that fit together to make your frame. Therein lies the cause of the problem: While that pattern may be continuous down the length, chunks of that pattern get cut out of the whole in order to make those four sides of the frame. The result is that the patterns meet at the corners and stop suddenly, distracting the eye with its imperfection.

In this instance we have such a frame that our customer wants on their piece. It has an attractive, deep brown rope pattern that owes part of its beauty to the heavily sculpted design. The customer loves the style, and I feel it’s perfect for the piece we’ve selected it for. However, we’re both concerned: you can see right on the sample that the corners don’t quite match up where the round, rolling curves stop abruptly at the seam. We want a more finished look that doesn’t take so much away from the presentation.

So I chop the frame as usual. When I join the corners of the frame, I can see that we have the exact problem as exemplified in the moulding’s corner sample. I’ve colored the flat part of the join, where the two legs come together, to make the bare wood the same color as the surface of the frame. This makes the problem less of an eyesore, but the interruption of the pattern is still fairly noticeable.

I then apply an air-drying sculpting material to the uneven pattern in the corners to fix this. It works just like clay in that I can sculpt it to whatever shape I need. I pack a little bit into each spot where the pattern stops and sculpt one leg into the other for a smooth, rounded transition. This covers the seam where the two legs meet and lets the pattern on one leg blend into the pattern on its adjoining piece.

Letting it sit overnight, the sculpting material hardens, and I prime the bright white material with a rusty-red primer. The wood’s original finish was primed with such a color which you can just barely see through the finish, and I want to duplicate the color of the frame as much as possible. Once dry, I apply a couple darker coats, bringing the color of the sculpted area to an exact match of the rest of the frame.

The result is beautiful. Our customer gets to have a heavily sculpted, rich looking frame that has hand crafted, seamless corners. The best part: I don’t charge extra for this! I want every frame that comes out of my shop to look like it was professionally crafted, and I will go to great lengths to achieve that if need be. Most custom frame shops would stop at the uneven join, falling back on the excuse that this is the property of the frame. At Coventry Gallery and Framing, we are craftsmen, our standards are higher, and you get a lot more for the same amount of money.

Old Gifts Made New

February has always been a romantic month. It can be difficult to express exactly how you feel with a gift to a loved one. You could splurge on jewelry, spring for flowers, or have a night out with a romantic dinner. The problem with all of these things is that everybody does that. Maybe you yourself have done these same things in the past. Maybe when you go out for that valentine’s dinner, you’re stuck in line with everyone else with the same old idea. It’s time for something new.

Custom framing gives you that opportunity to express yourself in a new and unique way. This month, I worked on just such a piece. This customer happens to be a creative person just like me. In the past, he hand made cards expressing his love for his wife on a variety of occasions. These wonderful gems were certainly appreciated, but what do you do with them after that? This sort of thing has just that personal touch that you want in such a gift, but serve little function after the gift has been received.

A custom frame can change all that. Working with the customer, together he and I chose just the right mats and frame to compliment the tastes of his partner in life. We were to frame three of the pieces together in one frame. These three pieces were airbrushed on thick illustration board, and their odd shape didn’t lend themselves well to the typical square cut mat opening.

So we decided to float the art on top of the mat. In addition, we gave the whole piece greater dimension by raising the art up—each piece on a separate level. I do this by cutting small pieces of foam core to go behind the art. The little pieces of board are cut small enough so that you don’t see them, and the give the art the illusion of floating off the backing and hovering in space behind the glass. We then chose a double mat to go around the whole of the piece, and raised it up with the foam core board to also hover over the soft, suede backing mat.

It seemed, however, that no matter how we arranged the three pieces, something was lacking from the composition. There always seemed to be a large area of extra space in the design because the three pieces suggested a triangular layout, and picture frames are rectangular!

This is where my creativity comes into play. The solution was to add a fourth element to the piece. In the upper left corner, I suggested to the customer that we add a sun-shaped design to the mat cut. I can do elaborate designs like this with the help of my robotic mat cutter. I quickly sketched out a few designs on the spot to give the customer an idea of what it would look like. I proposed we take advantage of the multi-tiered design and the depth it created. Some of the sun’s elements would fall each on three levels of the design, taking advantage of the depth of the piece, and fitting perfectly with the celestial elements suggested in the art itself.

The results were outstanding! The design is completely unique. What’s more, the cost of adding little elements like this to the design is next to negligible. You can not get this anywhere else. I designed the mat from scratch, not a pre-made pattern. The elements were custom made specifically for the needs of the customer, and no one else will ever have that same design hanging in their home.

You can have an equally special and unique piece for your home as well. Valentine’s Day may be over, but you don’t ever need an excuse to express how special and unique your feelings for someone are with a gift as personal as this. It would even make it more special to give a gift for no reason! You don’t need a holiday to tell someone you love them in a new and attractive way.

You don’t have to be a creative person. I’ve got that covered for you. Stop in and see me. I can make this happen for you.

Return of the Bear Claw Mat

The piece I wrote about last time is one of those things that I enjoy about creativity and craft. When it is completed, I can sit back and marvel at the attractive thing I have created. When things are fun to design and create, they sometimes have a tendency to look like they were fun to do. It’s a sensation that carry’s on to those who view it, and in this case it did so with the customers who now own the piece.

They returned almost immediately for more, they were so pleased with the initial results. The “Tomahawk Prayer” seemed to immediately suggest to our customer a pair of possible companion pieces. They would be smaller, satellite pieces. They would be completed in the same style, and each hang on either side of the main piece.

Our customers returned with an actual tomahawk, a pair of obsidian arrowheads, and a poem, the Tomahawk Prayer itself. For these objects, we would create a pair of shadowboxes. We chose a similar, rustic looking frame that was just a bit smaller in its profile than the original piece. We used the same mat colors, to further tie the pieces together. In addition, I would be using the same exact bear-claw border design as I used on the main piece. The design itself required only a little alteration to fit the new size of the frames, but the result is a nicely matched set that can lay out the theme of any room it hangs in.

I altered the mat cut design and cut the new mats in short time. Since we were assembling a shadow box, we chose to mount the objects directly on top of the mat. There would only be need to cut an opening for the poem, to be mounted normally under an arrowhead in one of the pieces.

The frame profile was standard, not deep like we needed for a shadowbox to fit the objects inside. I can however easily convert any frame profile into a shadowbox with the addition of an extender on the back. It’s simply a box that we can add to the back of any frame, and we can make it as deep as needed to accommodate most anything you need to have framed. I then build up the walls on the inside out of some of the mat board we are using. This gives the inside of the piece a finished look, covering the raw wood of the extender box.

The objects themselves I mounted by sewing them directly to the mat they were to be mounted on. All I do is loop some strong monofilament wire around the piece, and secure it through holes in the mat. The wire and the holes I try to strategically place to be as secure, yet as inconspicuous as possible. I like mounting objects in this way. It secures the piece nicely in place while avoiding messy adhesives that might damage or alter an object in its use. I can sew down most anything, from arrowheads, to baby gowns, to sports jerseys.

Almost finished with the piece, I give it one final look-over to ensure we have something worthy of display along side the main picture we had framed previously. I determine that I don’t like the look of the boxers at this point. The rustic wood of the frame moulding has a bluish-grey tone that suggests old, weathered wood. The bright new natural tones of the wood box extender clashes with it, and distracts the eye away from where we want the viewer’s attention: on the art. So I break out my paints. I keep a set around the shop. You’ll never know when you’ll need to paint something when you’re a creative person like me.

I am quickly able to mix up a batch of acrylic into an exact match of the weathered moulding, and apply it in light washes to the box. The light washes of the paint seep into the unprimed wood, letting the natural knots and grain show through. This gives the extender box the same weathered look of the moulding, and now the entire piece blends together unassumingly. This allows the objects we framed to take center stage in a rustic, yet coordinated look.

It’s little details like this that I enjoy custom adding to the pieces I do. It gives my work a unique appearance that you simply can not get at any other frame shop. There are many components that can be bought pre-fabricated and assembled into a custom frame. You can’t buy pre-fab creativity, however. Though at my shop, I can produce it for you on the spot if needed.

Emblem Mat

This was one of those projects that keep coming up, and keep me excited about picture framing. There is a fantastic collaboration that goes on during the design process. The result is an attractive piece that was cooperatively envisioned by the designer and the customer, and sometimes as in this case, with the original artist as well.

This customer was turned away from other frame shops, due to the complexity of her needs. She had a print to frame, and with it, the artist had also given instructions on how the piece should be framed. The instructions, on one page, were well written, with rough diagrams of a bear claw emblem and design to be cut directly into the mat. It’s a daunting piece to consider cutting by hand on a manual cutter. I would be able to do it, but it would take a few trials and several days to pull this off using my own dexterity.

However, I have a better solution. My robot assistant, who I’ve named Gir, is a CMC (Computer Mat Cutter). I can lay out vector art design, import it into Gir’s software, and Gir will cut virtually any shape into a mat board. I learned to lay out vector art many years ago using any variety of design software- so just about any custom design you can imagine, I can actualize right here in my shop. The cost to you is minimal, and I can help you turn a pure idea from your head into a design cut into the mat of your frame.

So first I scan the diagrams into my computer, and open them in Illustrator to use them to guide me in the design. I use the measurements provided by the artist, and where they haven’t been provided, I use my natural design skill and knowledge of composition to arrange the decorative border into what the customer is expecting. Once satisfied, I export the file and send it across the in-store network to Gir. Gir has a dual processor computer dedicated to its handling of the design and control of its cutting head. With just a little import and last minute tweaks to the layout, Gir gets to work on the task of cutting the mat. I truly believe that technology does not take the art out of a craft, but rather acts as another tool in the hands of an artist.

The final piece fits perfectly with the art. Notice that nothing in the design takes away from the image, despite the wide matting etched with an intricate design, and detailed, heavy grained wood frame. All of the elements work together and present the art with the impressive energy that the artist had intended. If you have an original work, and you want it to stand out, then this is often a better way to go than a minimalist framing that is virtually unnoticeable and does nothing to present the art.

It’s been a great week at Coventry, and it’s going to get even better next week. We’ve gotten the holidays behind us and a fresh year to look foreword to. Coming up just this next weekend is another Second Saturday in Sacramento’s Midtown and we have some fun and free things planned.

Just this week we got the new show hung. Our walls are now graced with all new art from local Sacramento photographer, Garrett Crispell. These photos are absolutely gorgeous in their double matted 18x24 and 9x12 frames. We’re surrounded in colorful sunsets over the beach, breathtaking glimpses into the animal world, and the natural environments of California and Alaska.

The prints are up and for sale right now, so come on in and get your hands on one of these beauties. You can buy the print alone and frame it however you want, or save money by purchasing it pre-framed.

Next Saturday we will have the artist’s reception in time for the Second Saturday Art Walk. Be sure to include us on your route and you’ll be able to get in out of the winter weather at the most fun environment on the block. If December’s event was any indication, it’s going to be an incredibly fun time-- and it costs you nothing.

We will have two live bands playing in our gallery that night, as well as snacks and sodas. We don’t do cover charges or snooty exclusive parties; it’s all free and open to everyone. So gather up the family and come enjoy the talent of local Sacramento original rock bands, the Lemmies, and Dead Man’s Alley.

The week after that we will be recovering from the wild weekend with a coupon on custom framing. You can get $25 off your order. If you don’t have a coupon, just click here and print one out to bring in. If your printer’s out of ink like mine, just come in and tell me you want to take advantage of the deal. I’m easy like that.

So I hope to see you this month. There are plenty of reasons to come out. We’ll have beautiful photography, free live bands, food, and a deal on the best custom framing you can get in Sacramento.

Renewing an Old Design

Looks like its going to be a wet week for us at the beginning of the New Year. Going outside is no fun, especially when it comes to dragging your valuable art out to the frame shop. While you’re all hunkered down for the bad weather, take a look around your home. Chances are you’ve had the same things up on the walls for a while now (I know I do, and I have easy access to all kinds of wall décor.) This week, I’m going to show you how to dress up your existing wall hanging material and give new life to the things you’ve chosen to decorate your home with. Maybe you bought that shiny gold metal frame back in the eighties and it’s a tad out of style. Maybe your pictures are looking just a little too gunky no matter how much you’ve tried to clean them. Bring this stuff to me, I’m an expert at picture renewal.

The other day, a gentleman brought in just such a piece. Here we have an old, thin wood framed piece, with a yellowing paper mat and some dust or mold creeping in under the glass. I see a lot of this in older framed pieces. Professional picture framing techniques are a relatively new thing, and you see all sorts of materials that we would now consider inappropriate in common use in older picture frames. Take a look around your home, I’m sure you have something like this.

Our customer likes the overall look, it's worked well for him so far. He just needs this piece pulled apart and cleaned out, and perhaps a new look to the boring old single mat. Fortunately, we can reuse a lot of the materials in the original frame and improve the picture without shelling out the cost of a whole new job from scratch.

When I get a job like this, the first thing I do is pull it apart and clean it out. Outside of a couple scuffs, the frame is in good shape and the customer would like to reuse it in the new design. Some cleaner on both the inside and outside of the glass goes a long way towards clearing up the cloudy look that was given by the grime of age. The first thing I notice after getting the piece apart is that the art itself had been pre-mounted on a thicker acidic board and essentially taped in place with masking tape. The customer is long gone by the time I notice this, and I make a decision to give this piece a proper mounting when I put it back together.

Countermatting is the appropriate way to mount art on thicker substrate, be it a photo mounted on a thick board, or sometimes whole magazines or comic books can be mounted in this way. To do a countermat, I first use some acid free foamcore to use as a backing. I then center the art on the board, and cut some strips of archival mat that will be attached to the backing. I fix the strips in place so that they fit snugly around the art. When I place the finished matting on top of the piece, the art is sandwiched between backing and mat, with the archival board strips around the edges to keep the art centered. No adhesive actually touches the art, there is no chance of the art slipping around inside the frame, and everything will fit flush inside the frame with no awkward bowing of the mat.

The matting was chosen with the customer during the design process when the piece was first brought in. Many factors can go into consideration when choosing a design for your piece. Maybe you want to match the new look of a re-done room. Maybe you want to give the frame a fresh, new look that’s more up to date. In this case, taking apart an old frame, cleaning it out, and re-fitting the piece with some new, acid-free mats has rejuvenated this piece of art. There was a lot of detail in the image that was lost behind musty glass and acid stained matting, now this old piece has been made brand-new while staying within the budget of the customer.

That’s this week’s fun with framing. I hope you’ve been inspired to take a look around you home at what you have on the walls. Maybe you have something that needs a little refreshing, and updated look, or simply some proper cleaning. Such a project is perfect for trying out a new frame shop: Without spending a lot of money, you can get to know the quality and service of a shop before you come back with more complex pieces. While I’m thinking about it, I have a coupon that can help you do just this. I’m offering $25 off your entire custom framing order for one week this month when you print it out and bring it in.