I Hate Framing but...

A corner of my living room that shows both framed and unframed work.

I hate framing.

I just don’t have the right temperament for it.  

You need to be meticulous, careful. You need a clean pet-fur free place to work. Measurement is involved. I must admit the task is better with my husband’s Christmas gift of a hand-held screwdriver. He researched the different brands and found one that works well for me. It fits my hand! I should add that the other part of his Christmas gift was perfume. Do I have a great husband or what? 

Most people, when buying a painting, will change out the frame to match their own décor. I don’t blame them for this, as it is what I would do. However, I then don’t want to invest a lot of money into the frame. I’ve had frames damaged or lost when I’ve sent paintings out. I would rather invest my money in more art supplies.

Yet a frame can make or break a painting.

Once I was at a gallery that showed my work. I came around a corner to be confronted with a large painting. “Who did that?” I exclaimed. My friend replied, “You did, you dolt!” I hadn’t recognized the painting at all. They had done such a good job of framing it. Seriously, I didn’t recognize it.

I use gallery wrapped canvases or cradled wood panels for my work. I then paint the edges a neutral gray. This is after many experimentations with those edges. I used to paint them black but found it too strong and distracting of a colour. I’ve taped the edges with gaffer’s tape, but that gets brittle. At one point, I was adding gold leaf to those edges. I’ve extended the painting over the edges for a more sculptural effect, but didn’t like how it looked. It was a bit too kitschy for me. So, the last solution I have settled on is to paint those edges a neutral gray. This way you can hang the work directly without a frame. The neutral edges don’t distract from the painting. I still think that my work looks better framed. However, I leave that mostly to the professionals. I have a gal who does a great job. If you need a framer, get in touch with Sketch Framing. Luba does good work, you’ll enjoy working with her.