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Written by Andy Parks

I have just spent a very interesting afternoon at the London Watercolour and Drawings Fair at the Science Museum, Kensington. There were some amazing pieces of art on display and a showcase of some truly stunning artists. As a general point about most of the framing on display I would say that the choices of materials were very bold as regarding widths and styles of frame. Some pieces are very old and have their original ornate gold frames which is to be expected. This is the correct thing to do if the frame is the original one as this adds to the value of the art and adds to the picture's provenance. However I have always been quite a believer in not 'over-framing' pictures. This means that wide, ornate gold mouldings would probably be one of the last choices on a small subtle watercolour and yet there were plenty of examples of this type of frame in use. I discussed this with several of the exhibitors there and they put across their reasons for using this type of frame as keeping with tradition and a more ornate style of framing actually adding to the overall impact of the work of art. I must say that the framing did look very impressive all together in one display when all those frames were heavy ornate frames. However I wonder if the same could be said when each piece of art would be hanging on it's own in a new home? I think that if you are looking at the frame before you are looking at the artwork you have probably made the wrong choice of framing materials. Nothing that I saw today has changed this belief. However there would seem to be a place for more substantial framing if only for older style paintings? An interesting debate that I am sure will continue for a long time to come. The London Watercolour and Drawings Fair continues at the Science Museum, Kensington until Sunday 5th February 2012.

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Written by Andy Parks

I think that maps are a great thing to have on your wall. Along the corridor to our workshop we have an OS map centred on the Buriton Business Park, a 19th Century reproduction map of Hampshire by Thomas Moule and a modern map of the world. I always find them fascinating to look at and you can never know enough about the planet or your home town geographically. However a company has come up with the idea of producing maps made up of entirely text with the text relating to that area of the map. For example part of Devon has the words "cream teas" forming part of that county. Our particular area of Hampshire has the words Jane Austen forming part of the county. As with so many frames it is important not to over frame the picture and so a simple oak frame with a light green mount to match the customer's decor was chosen. The poster was also "dry mounted" onto a thicker sheet of mount board to prevent the poster cockling up in time due to changes in temperature. Please visit the Snow Home website for more details. The idea is a brilliant one and I liked it so much I have ordered one to go along my corridor!

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Written by Andy Parks

We do see some very clever art that is framed at our workshop. A poster came in recently that had the ingenious idea of putting the text of your favourite book onto one A1 sized poster. Of course the text size is very small but remains readable. However the really clever part is the use of cut outs of text to create shapes associated with that book. The poster that we framed was of the book Alice in Wonderland where the cut out areas were of a little girl and the suits of a pack of playing cards hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. Other books include Black Beauty with the text all in the horse's head and A Christmas Carol with the cut out of a candle. The effect created from a distance is stunning and a perfect tribute to your favourite book. The text is in black by default and so a very simple white over mount was used and then a 1.25" or 30mm square black profile to frame the poster. A truly stunning and very creative idea. In fact I liked the idea so much I bought my partner Janet one for a present. She is a RE teacher and so I bought her The Bible where the cut out area is a hand offering an apple! For more information please visit the Spineless Classics website.

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Written by Andy Parks

One of our favourite customers and local artist Rita Greer has appeared on BBC Radio 4's Today programme to discuss her paintings of the famous British inventor Robert Hooke. Rita has an incredibly detailed style of painting which involves very large amounts of time in research to ensure complete accuracy in her work. Rita will soon be exhibiting her work at the Flora Twort Gallery in Petersfield during May to June 2012. The painting needed to be framed in something that would fit in with the Institue of Physics building in London where the oil painting will hang. So a reasonably square oak profile was selected with a very narrow gold slip to pick up on some of the more ornate aspects of the portrait.

Rita Greer is standing just to the left of the painting. In Rita's own words, "The man behind me is Sir Arnold Wolfendale a Past Astronomer Royal. Right of the painting is my husband Robert right again is Dr Allan Chapman & right of him is Professor Michael Cooper. We are at The Institute of Physics in Portland Place, London. The Painting now hangs in the Hooke Room."

To see a close up of the painting and listen to the interview click here.