Follow the Stairs to your Dreams by Susan Davies.
On my table today was this fabulous piece. I spent quite a bit of time figuring out the best mount-board to use. Do I go dark to make the white pop or do I go light to accentuate the darkness of the buildings?
It’s such a thought provoking image. The texture of the stairs and building make them feel possible to touch. And I gaze at it and wonder where the figure is heading. There’s a story there. And I don’t know about you but my mind goes straight to working it out. Running away from something or someone perhaps. Or excitedly heading somewhere. There seems to be a spring in their step. They are perhaps in a hurry. Which would explain the blurry nature of the figure, there is suggestion of movement. Contrasting from the still, strong, steady nature of the man made objects around them.
I framed it in a firm favourite of mine, an Forest Stewardship Council approved Ayous moulding finished in a dark walnut. After much consideration I decided to float mount it on a speckled textured off white mount-board using a gummed tape that is fed through slits in the mountboard. This prevents having to glue the back of the artwork.
I chose this mountboard as although similar in colour to the artwork, it has this subtle texture to it that somehow pushes the brighter, solid colour of the paper of the artwork forward.
I’ve created matching spacers using thin slithers of the same mountboard. Often clear plastic or wood are used but using a matching mountboard means the borders melt together and give the illusion of depth without shouting about it. These are then attached to the sides of the frame and provide space between the artwork and the glass. If there is not any space created between the artwork and the glass, then over time there is the risk of the artwork sticking to the glass.
Once the glass, spacers and mountboard were in place I sealed the back with brown paper and brown gummed tape. I use gummed tape as it is plastic free and is also easy to remove if necessary in future by simply wetting it.
So pleased with the final look of this piece. The framing of a piece shouldn’t compete for your attention with the artwork, it should compliment it, gently nudge it forward and bring it into view.
If you have a piece of artwork or photography that you are looking to have framed, check out my page dedicated to my Made to Measure service. Feel free to book a free online consultation to discuss your requirements or send me a message and we can go from there.