I've Been Framed!

When we travel we always bring home a piece of art or two (sometimes three or four!).  GETTING the art is the easy part… deciding how to frame it is the hard part.

The normal way to go about framing is to go to a frame store and select a frame and matting (if used) that compliments both the art and the room it will be hung in.  My favorite store to have framing done is Hobby Lobby during one of their monthly 50% off sales.  This is a hand colored print from Cartagena, Columbia.

Another way to frame when you are doing a gallery wall is to have all the frames the same color.  They don’t need to match in form, shape or size as long as the color is the same.  I’ve used this method with my Black & White collection in my entry hallway.

A more formal approach is to use ‘gallery framing’ where the frames are same form and are black with white mats.  When I exhibit with my photography club we always use gallery framing.  I use it at home in our hallway to frame my favorite photos from our last trip. 

It’s fun to frame in a way that adds to the story of the artwork.  You could use a frame made of driftwood on an ocean scene or as I did in the watercolor above putting a barbwire corral around the frolicking calves.

Some art from our travels has already been framed. If possible I like to leave it framed that way. There have been a few pieces that were too large to bring home framed… I’ve even had to pull some canvases off the stretchers to get it in my luggage. This fun little rooster was done by a popular Ethiopian artist on a stretched piece of goat hide.

When it comes to framing regular photos of family, friends or us; I am definitely less formal. I like to have some fun. In fact, I’m a ‘frame-aholic’. Best Friend has been given permission to smack me if I linger too long in the frame aisle of Home Goods!

   

I like to pick up frames when we travel and use them to hold a photo from that very trip.  This frame was made in Kenya and the photo is us on our hot air balloon ride over the Masai Mara reserve.

Or maybe the frame will give a clue as to where the photo was taken.  This one reads “Dare To Begin The Journey”.  It is Himself standing in the middle of the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota…as the water begins its journey to New Orleans. 

Some frames lead you into the story the photo tells.  This photo is of Himself and a few of his team mates as they are walking back from a HALO jump.  Frame kind of says it all. 

I like photo frames that tell you something about the people in the picture. This frame with a wheat pattern holds a photo of our friends who are farmers in North Dakota.

The main things to remember are the frame needs to compliment the art without becoming the focal point and that YOU like how it looks.