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Welcome to our Framer's Corner!!
We like to take a moment every month to share some of our favorite projects with you.
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We are always proud of the work we do, and the designs we come up with, but every once in a while, we wow ourselves! These designs are the ones we talk about years from now that stick with us. What better way to celebrate those special designs than to share them with our readers.
This month's Framer's Corner was designed by Frame Designer and Gallery Manager Heather Swart, and the art comes from the shop's owner, Amy.
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Here at Frame of Mind, we are always looking for fun, new, and eye catching designs to help art stand out. While designing framing for Amy, Heather happened upon an unexpected and unique frame design....
One of the traditions Amy, the owner of the shop, does when she travels, is buy artwork for the staff to work on frame designs together. It's a chance for us to let our creativity really shine, and she lets the staff go full force with the best and most unique design ideas. It's a great way for us all to collaborate, play off each other's design skills, and have a lot of fun! This year, on a trip to Portland, OR, Amy brought back a number of pieces to design, but the two that were the most unique, were a pair of paintings she found in a small diner from a local artist named Joe Riso.
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Joe holds a BA in Media Arts and Animation, most notable for his animation for the Weird Al music video, "My Pancreas." Both pieces are mixed media paintings and glitter on panel boards with painted edges. But the one that stood out, was one called "Jelly," a painting of three glittery jellyfish swimming in a pink abstract background. The colors are very vibrant and bright, and the glitter brings an element of fantasy and whimsy to the piece. | |
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Although the group worked on this piece together, our Gallery Manager, Heather Swart took the lead on this one. She knew we would want to show the bright and colorful edges of the piece, which means we would want to use something called a "float frame." These frames are specially made for canvases or panel board paintings, so that you can float the piece, and not cover the edges or sides of the piece.
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When we choose a float frame for a piece we have to consider the height of the float frame. We do not want the painting recessed into the frame, the goal is to have the painting and the float fame at an even level, this gives the appearance that the painting is floating.
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Heather started the design out by choosing a bright pink rustic float frame from one of our moulding suppliers, Universal. Everyone loved the bright pink with the piece, but it just seemed to be missing something. | |
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One thing to keep in mind about float frames, is that if a painting needs to be raised to the level of the specific float frame we are then using a stretcher bar behind the painting to raise it to the level that we need it. Just for fun, Heather came up with an idea, instead of using a stretcher bar (a raw wood that would be hidden) to build up the panel, why don't we use another frame? | |
We have so many fun and sparkly frames that Heather just had to give it a try to see how it would look. She pulled the sparkly rainbow frame from the moulding company, Bella, which turned out to be the perfect happy little accident! Now the painting has that pop of pink and a hint of sparkle to really make the art stand out against the rest. Now, all that we can think is, how did we not do this before?! | |
As soon as the crew saw the combination with the painting, everyone knew this was the perfect design for this piece! Bright colors, a little bit of sparkle.. viola! Perfection!
The frame sits next to the companion piece that Amy bought by Joe Riso, which we used the same technique on, but with a set of different frames. They look great on the wall together, and are the center of conversation at many gatherings at Amy's home now.
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We will definitely be adding this fun and unique design idea to other projects.
If you have a unique painting on canvas or panel board that you would like to have framed in a one of a kind design, swing by and let us show you this new technique to bring your piece of art to life!
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1706 Brooks Street
Missoula, MT 59801
406-549-8589
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