Framing a Lesson

I spent most the afternoon cutting a mat and backing board, mounting and framing an acrylic painting on a full sheet of watercolor paper (22” x 30”). When I heard tales about how much fellow artists were paying for framing their works, I thought I could learn to do it. A few months ago I bought an excellent book (“Basic Picture Framing”) and taught myself to cut mats and frame works on watercolor paper. But, boy, is it hard work! I don’t have a fancy system, just a handheld mat cutter, large self-healing cutting board, rulers, a pencil, and a good utility knife.

Then, when I was about to hang and appraise my work, the metal frame fell apart. Metal springs and corner holders went flying and the air turned blue with my curses! Luckily, there was a clear styrene sheet--not glass--in the frame or I would have had a big mess. I had noticed the mat and backing board overlapped the plexiglass and thought my small overage pushed the frame apart. So I dissembled everything, cut down the edges, sandwiched everything back into the metal sectional frames, double checked the corner screws, and was finally in business.

Is there a lesson? I think I won’t do another work on a full sheet of watercolor paper! It’s physically tough to cut and frame a painting that size—will stick to a stretched canvas instead. Cutting mats has to be my least favorite thing associated with painting. How do picture framers do it all day? My hands really hurt after just one cutting session.

Getting some framing supplies yesterday, I talked to a local framer who recommended I spend the least amount of money to frame. He didn’t recommend the 100% cotton rag mat nor the acid free backing boards, just plain acid free mats and regular foam board. Neither did he encourage buying fancy frames for works on canvas, as the customer could change the color to match their décor. That gave me a whole different perspective. I have been buying all the acid-free and high quality boards all along.

What do you do? Do you do the least in preservation? Since I am just beginning to exhibit, haven’t sold anything yet, and do my own framing, I bought the good stuff. But if it’s true that a buyer can and will swap out my mats for their own taste, why am I spending extra dollars for materials that might later be discarded so it will match their sofa?

Acrylics on paper is so difficult to ready for presentation, but it is such fun and fast to work with. This week, I grabbed a tangled bit of string to play with and had good results in smaller works.

From my sketchbook:

Two Panels

7 3/4" x 7"

Landscape of String

7 3/4" x 7"

From a watercolor block:

Purple String
9" x 12"

Orange String

9" x 12"