But it wasn't me officer, I've been framed.

Good day!

A nice aspect of working in an art gallery with a framing department is that I can frame my own artworks for a good price. I decided I wanted to frame this gum artwork I did as I'm planning on making a series of these works. I also wanted to frame it as the artwork itself is quite fragile and I wanted to help preserve it.
I picked it up the other day and was very happy with the results.

Then my brain perked up and was all like "I'm sure everyone would love to hear your insights about framing, Jamie!" to which I replied "Gee brain, that's a swell idea, let's indulge!"
A bit of inspiration from Chris Cooley's blog is that the accompanying text will be provided with an awesome soundtrack so make sure you click here first, then proceed to read onwards on this crazy textual adventure.

So here are a few insightful insights that I've learnt for anyone that fancies themselves as a bit of an interior design nut or are looking to get something framed. The important thing about getting artwork framed is to choose a frame that compliments the artwork (duh). I often see it where the frame is chosen above everything else and becomes the main focus or overall becomes too distracting. I went for a black matt box frame to keep it fairly contemporary, introducing a new or different colour that hasn't already been established is a very bad idea.

 

Mounting, homeslice.

This is quite an integral part of framing any artwork, it can be often overlooked or not considered important - I get a lot of customers who think this and admittedly when I first started I certainly thought it wasn't important. It's important for the following reasons: 

It acts as negative and breathing space for the artwork, a small or no border can often make the frame look like it's visually choking the image. This helps give the artwork a sense of presence as well. But more importantly it helps protect the artwork, the typical mount is a window mount that sits on top of the artwork and raises the glass away it, protecting it from damage.

You have a lot of choices in colour too. There's like a million shades of white - "You could say 50 shades of white!" I proclaim to customers, quickly followed by silence and a drifting appearance of tumbleweed. But seriously, I'd like anyone to try and point out the different between 'ice white' and 'polar white'. 

So, since this is a 3D artwork I went for a lay-on mount as opposed to a window mount which sits on top of the artwork as a bevel.

 

Box frame/fillets, dude.
Now since I've gone for a lay on mount, the artwork will have to be in a box frame which contains fillets (cluck). These are spacers that keep the glass away from the artwork, providing depth. If you're looking to get a box frame, it's good to get a chunky amount of depth, I went for 15mm for this. Technically you can make as much depth as you want, it's just down to how the deep the actual profile of the frame is (see picture below) This frame is about 30mm deep, so it has enough space for the artwork, fillets and glass.
Interestingly box frames are very much in trend and proving to be a popular choice for contemporary works, perhaps because the window mount technique can look a bit old fashioned or dated?

Phwoar, look at the depth on this beast.

Righteous glazing
Last of all, your glass. I went for 'normal' glass as specialized glass can jump up a lot in price. Even though normal glass is cost effective, you can see from the photo above that it will have a lot of reflection. You can go for a non-reflective glass to avoid this or ultimately hang the piece where natural light won't evade it too much. There's museum quality glass that offers better clarity (I think the iron is removed, which is usually a blue or green tinge that you get in most glass) and has a UV filter. This is great for protecting any valuable artwork or anything that will be directly and constantly in sunlight, as the sun loves to ruin colours over time. That pesky sun.

So there you go, hope this incredible insight helps anyone with any framing thoughts. If anyone has any framing questions I'd be happy to answer to the best of my ability. You could say I have the hang of it now. Right?.. Right?.. Ah there's the door!

TTFN

Jamie