A Picture Framing Adventure

In the vast field of interior decorating, one of my favorite subjects is art!  To me, the art displayed in a room adds the final dash of character to the whole endeavour.  I find nothing more boring than a beautiful room with no personal artistic touches, whether they take the form of a beautiful religious relic, an odd pottery bowl or a great painting on the wall.  Sometimes a room's architecture is enough, but even a boring box room comes alive with a special piece of art prominently displayed, whether its a collection of beloved postcards on the fridge, a stack of well-loved books, or an odd accessory or weird piece of furniture.  Picture perfect rooms with sterile furnishings and no art (or pre-fab art) are painfully dull to me.

And what intrigues me most about art is that no two people seem to have the same taste in it!  I swear that taste for art is as individual as our DNA.

I am especially fond of works of art on paper, including paintings, drawings, and etchings.  I also love photography.  The funny thing is that I'm almost equally enamoured with the framing of art.  Oftentimes I notice the frames almost as much as the art.  I am fond of old-fashioned frames, whether ornate and gilded or simple wooden ones.  I just like them to have an old-world feel.

Since I have a house full of prints and even some original art, I've decided to take a picture framing course in an effort to organize my collection without breaking the bank.  Professional picture framing is a costly endeavour and sometimes a cheap frame job just doesn't fit the bill, especially for odd sized pieces.

My class starts in 3 weeks at a local art school.  We will learn how to cut mats and glass, how to mount the art, and how to chop and assemble our own frames.  The class runs for 8 weeks and besides manual skills, we'll learn the theory of archival framing and all the rules for making a work of art shine!

I hope to re-frame some antique etchings I bought in 2008 at the Paris flea market (St-Ouen).  I framed the above etching rather cheaply but would like a frame that is a little larger and older.

Below is an etching I had professionally framed for $160.  The etching itself is old but was a total score at $15.  I dug it from a dusty bin at an old antique shop and still regret that I didn't buy the whole box (there were at least 10 more but some were stained and I wasn't attentive enough to have a better look): 

The frame job is nicely done but I wish I could have done it myself and saved some money. Or better yet, I would love to re-purpose a lonely old frame with a new piece of art!

My class starts in February and runs 'til the end of March.  I can hardly wait to start and promise to share my projects with you...

 Photos:  1. Source N/A  2. Traditional Home 3. Charlotte Moss's Study in House & Garden photographed by Simon Upton 4&5. Windlost's house.