Welcome to our first ever, Framer's Corner!

Introducing a favorite design from 2018 by Charlie Bolte, one of our custom framing designers!

Read on below to learn how Charlie made and enhanced the beauty of an enso.
When this enso by master calligrapher, Kazuaki Tanahashi, came through the door, Charlie knew it was something special. The colors were vivid and the paint had a beautiful depth and iridescence. 

Charlie didn’t want to compete with the array of colors in the enso, so he pulled out just one—the dominant red—and highlighted it with the fillet and frame. To keep the color consistent between the frame and the fillet, Charlie used two different profiles of the same color, tangerine, from Larson Juhl’s Garrett moulding line. The fillet is a 5/8 inch beveled profile that helps draw the viewer’s eye into the piece. It’s much taller than a standard fillet and adds an incredible depth to the piece. The outer frame is the 3/4 inch flat profile. 
To help keep the design light and unobtrusive, Charlie extended the white paper with two museum acid and lignin free rag mats that matched the thick watercolor paper the enso was painted on. In order to bring the top mat level with the top of the fillet, multiple layers of acid free foam core were used to build the mat up to the fillet’s level.
 
Conservation is Frame of Mind's highest priority for every art piece, so to mount the enso Charlie used archival mulberry paper strips and rice starch paste for the float mount. A float mount was chosen because the watercolor paper had deckled edges, something he wanted to show for added character.
 
To protect the piece for years to come, TruVue conservation clear glass, which offers 99% UV protection and excellent clarity, was used.
 
He knew this design was going to be good, but Charlie was completely blown away with the finished piece. Specifically, he was impressed by the depth added by the fillet and how it accentuated the movement of the circle. When the customer came in for pickup, they happily shared a wonderful moment, struck by the beauty of the piece and a exceptional frame design to match!




Here it resides amongst the customer's art near his zen altar. Doesn't it look spectacular?! We think so!
Keep an eye out for future Framer's Corner features!
1706 Brooks Street
Missoula, MT 59801
406-549-8589