Alternatives to Picture Frames

There was another thread about this a while back.

My suggestion on it, one I have done myself, is to buy a large stretched canvas from the art supply store, paint it with an appropiate color, mount the image onto the canvas, screw a piece of plexi onto the front and hang it on the wall.

I did this with some 30x40 photographs and it looks pretty cool.

Thanks boomie

however, the end effect of the front rooms is going to be a mix of italian villa, traditional, roman/greco with splashes of unexpected color that will tie various areas together..

I'll try to find that thread

I'm doing interpretaions of various things I have found beautiful - like those banks of candles in an old catholic church - with the red, emerald and saphire holders. Or, as you can see, certain mythelogical themes, Persephone, Pygmallion, etc.

I'm trying to create texture and warmth, so I'm not sure about plexiglass. Maybe the idea of the picture being cradled, or emerging from it's natural environment.

As you can tell, this is not mereley redecorating, it's creating a sanctuary.

Oh, I see.

But don't discount plexiglass. For large painting the light weight causes less stress on your walls.

Hmmm...

I made a valence for Mo's room by stripping lichen covered bark off of a tree and gluing it to a board then covering the whole thing with amber varnish to intensify the color and texture and help keep the thing intact.

It's very organic.

Something like that could easily be adapted to a project like yours.

ooooh, someone at work here came up with an idea.

Copper.

Finding long decorative pieces to fasten to the wall both above and below the picture.
It'll create demension and boundaries.

Also, I can carry that over into candle holders or a wall hanging somewhere else.

If the copper ages green, it will lend a sea like quality, which will really compliment a picture of Poseiden riding his horses to shore.

Do you want to be looking at the picture or the frame? The decorative frames you are thinking about are apt to vie for attention of your eye. The plexi over painted canvas will "read away". especially if the canvas is painted the identical color as the wall paint.

I had to go look this up







My eye thinks the simpler the better - boomer's original suggestion makes the most sense to me. How did Crane have it framed originally?

Copper could be cool.

I made a studio backdrop out of copper and we shot all kinds of things against it without it being distracting.

I think I'd attach the copper to something and attach the something directly to the wall though.

What do you mean "read away"?

To answer you question, I want the viewer to look at the picture first, and later think, what a unique, beautiful treatment around it. Or, mable better, let them notice the frame first, only to discover the gift it holds.

See, that's what doesn't make sense to me, to spend a large amount of money for a "regular" picture frame. An expensive frame could draw the eye from the picture also.
As far as the plexiglass - sorry, but that's a definite no. Frankly, it sounds like it would look cheap.

I believe in using color as a tool to draw the eye to where you want someone to look. Not to distract, but attract.

BTW - The wall color? Well first, all the walls are going to be painted with a paint that will give the appearance of suede.
The wall behind the picture will be deep red.
The ajacent walls will be camel on one side, and a darker tone of saddle/camel on the other. I'm talking about a living room and library area of about 600 square feet, so there's a lot of wall space to let the imagination run with, without getting busy.
Lighting? besides the usual, the entire room will have cove lighting that will remain on 24/7, giving a restful twilight appearance, when the other lights are off. The furniture? Camel with just a few pillows with color.

The carpet - all one color, but has a pattern of leaves in it. Overall impression; elegance

Those 3 wall colors look SPECTACULAR together. Interjecting surprises of jewel tones will be MAGNIFICENT.

Since the rooms will have such power, having no frame would be underwhelming - I'm a less is more person type of person, but sometimes you have to have to do something that pops out, to get someone to notice. then they can focus, hone in.

The entire room will be a work of art, a delight to the eye, and place to grow old and read wonderful books in.

I know, all those colors....... sounds like a French whore house.
But truly, I have agonized over every detail, believe me, it's not.
It's actually going to be very understated.

Is it the screws that are throwing you off, Chai? I don't think you can tell by looking whether it's plexiglass or glass. Sounds like an elegant solution to me.

I think painting the canvas with that same darker saddle/camel color as one of the other walls, maybe 1.5/ 2 inches beyond the edge of the painting (if you can get the precise size you want -- not sure how that works), and then the plexi would look great. Not cheap in the least. You could probably dress up the head of the screw if you wanted.

JMO.

I do love Walter Crane, and many illustrators from that era.

Wasn't even thinkin' of the screws sozobe. I don't think this painting will be covered by anything, if it's reproduced on canvas.

boomie - good idea, i think attaching copper to something else would save the wall.

If you're handy with a mitre box, you can make your own frame using stock moldings from the home improvement store. Paint it any color you want. It can be plain or decorative.

Yeah, I've given that some thought. I'm still mulling that one over.
thanks for the reinforcement of an idea.

There used to be a place in my town where you could build your own picture frames. They had the moldings ant the tools. I made a bunch of them. You might check the yellow pages and see if there is such a place in your town.

Oh I see - it's a canvas already stretched on a frame!

I thought it was flat.

Does the image extend directly to the edge of the stretcher or is there a bit of a boarder?

Oh, that does make a big difference!

I thought it was flat, too, poster-style. A big piece of paper, basically.

Then you have a lot more options. I like Swimpy's, can't be too complicated.

Oh Yeah, that's what the artists wrap is all about. it's put on a stretcher, on which is painted colors extended from the picture.

It makes the picture about 1 and 1/2 inches deep, and you can hang it directly on the wall.

HA - I guess you were thinking I was going to scotch tape a picture of the earth as taken from the moon on my bedroom wall over the headboard.

You did do that back in the 70's, didn't you?

Hey, what goes around comes around.

We all have different tastes. If you want to have people see the frame first, go with it. I have been known to make frames adorned with a plethora of dried hydrangeas - but then with mirrors inside them.

Read away means that you look first and foremost at the rendition of the painting. People use a lot of care in choosing ornate frames for some paintings, with good reason.

You have an idea of how the room works as a whole, Chai, and it reflects you; the frame is a changeable item if you tire of it. Do what amuses you as part of the whole scene.

I come from a different place - we've just hung our sixtieth one person show, and our emphasis is on the original work. We do have ornate frames once in a while, with appropriate works, but generally don't.
So, to some extent it is a question of decoration or eye to the art. If the art is background music, of sorts, then decoration around it can be understandable.

On copper, if I did that I'd make it just that, boomer, a full backdrop, as in a copper wall. Not pieces clamped on a rectangle beneath them, for example (though I suppose there is a place for that, maybe even in this scenario. If Chai is going full bore for decorative extravagance, well, hey. To me it is all wrong for that print, the wall or a creative copper frame. JMO.

Anyone read or look at Architectural Digest, the magazine?

Most of their features feature over the top decor, of all sorts.
I've saved some, Nureyev's place, with him in it, for example. Mostly it's been the magazine we dig in to so we can go to town on what we'd do instead, including taking a blowtorch. Not to sound so severe - I usually like one or two features per mag, to some extent. While I love to whine about it, I keep taking it, and I've learned a lot. Luckily, I look at other material too... Dwell, for example.