Framing your work for club exhibitions.
The following few points are intended as a guide only. The photos on this page indicate the preferred method for framing. D' rings with nylon cord (not wire) and sealed on the reverse using archival tape. A modern neutral frame will show off your work to the best advantage. — Work on canvas is fine left unframed. — For work that needs protection, consider using ready made standard size frames and standard mounts (mats). These are readily available locally, but you will need to check the quality. — To save costs on framing, you could consider working to set sizes that fit straight into standard frames. — Whenever you can, it is best to choose plain neutral coloured frames for all your exhibited work. A neutral frame is more likely to sit well with a potential buyers decor and help avoid a buyer thinking "I love the painting, but the frame has got to go". — Commercially pre-cut mounts are available very cheaply, and in standard sizes that will often fit several different ready made frames (but you will need to check the mounts do actually fit). These normally come with an acetate envelope which you can also use these to display your unframed work in a display portfolio. — Be careful when buying ready made frames. Many of the cheaper ones are not wood or painted but covered in a 'foil'. This can tend to peel after a while. Also, be careful to check the corner joins to make sure they are neat and well joined. Otherwise you may find they come apart. — Some ready made frames are made out of a fibre board. The fixings these come with, are OK for using at home, but if you try to screw in 'D' rings for display at an exhibition you may find you have to pre-drill a pilot hole rather than use a bradle. Otherwise, the frame material may disintegrate or split and the screws just fall out. — DIY framing behind glass - Try to use acid free or low acid materials for mounting and backing your work. Most materials these days are low in acid (the acid in paper and mounts etc is what helps to turn work and or the mounts yellow. In the worst cases this can happen fairly quickly). Unfortunately, Acid free materials may be more expensive. — To hang your work behind glass use acid free tape and attach at the top of the work. Avoid if you can, fixing it all around. — Seal your work at the back using acid free flexible brown adhesive tape. This is easier and more reliable than brown tape as it doesn't tend to dry out or crack. — For hanging at our exhibitions we require 'D' rings which lay flat on the back of the frame. Please do not use 'eye' hooks. When hung at home, these have a tendency to damage the decor. — Always use cord attached to the 'D' rings and not wire it is must stronger easily available and cheaper to buy. Wire, especially when re-hung several times can weaken and fracture, with disastrous results. — If the frame is too bright or not a suitable colour. Why not paint or spray it something more suitable. Farrow and Ball do quite large test pots in lots of interesting colours, and the paint is tough. Doing this needs a bit of thinking before you start in order to avoid getting more paint on you than on the actual frame. You will have to be careful not allow the paint to run. But it is fairly easy, and you can make an old frame look contemporary with the right choice of colour. To sum up. The better your frame, its mount, how neatly it is finished and taped on the reverse, the better it justifies a higher asking price. An unsuitable or cheap, or badly framed picture will not do justice to your work and can put off potential customers. |
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