Amazing Frames

"Chilly Morning"

© Fawn McNeill 2005

Original Watercolor (Plein Air) 

Not available

• Artwork on paper like this should be framed behind glass with a mat around it to keep it off of the glass and protect it.  The same is true for photographs and prints on paper. 

• This frame has a fun pattern in gold.  The mat is a double mat with the bottom mat in a red accent. 

• Art created on canvas or wood should not be framed behind glass. 

• Original oils and acrylics are usually done on canvas or wood and need to breathe.  

• Artwork created on paper or mat board should be framed behind glass with a mat to keep the image off of the glass. This is true for photos, prints, and posters as well. (Glass can trap moisture and ruin the image.) 

• If you are purchasing a ready-made frame for an image on paper, be sure to add room for a mat, or purchase one with the mat.

• Art created on canvas (or wood) does not fit in ready-made frames that are designed for photos and prints.

• Custom framing can be quite expensive.  Everything is designed to create the perfect fit so the mat is centered around the art evenly.  The materials are acid-free and the glass has UV protection. Even the foam-core backing should be acid-free. 

•  Unfortunately, many shops do not use acid-free materials, or they will skip it for the backing. (Be sure to ask for it)!  Acid-free materials slow down the aging process that yellow and crack the image. 

• The frame moldings are often imported from Italy or France. The quality and the unique styles enhance the art and complement your décor. They are made to last for many years. 

(I am currently offering custom framing through Okeechobee Main Street's frame shop, by appointment only. I have over ten years of experience!)

Hot and destructive!

•  Must be the hottest summer ever! Up in the nineties and hundreds since early June. Humid too, feels like 115 degrees! It is hard to stay on task these days!

• I have destroyed nine or ten paintings in the past month.  Not out of frustration or anger, and not from the heat (I don't think), I just got tired of trying to fix older paintings that were never finished.  I thought I could brighten, rearrange, add more detail, or whatever. I thought I might like them better, but I decided it wasn't worth so many hours to try to resolve the issues.  It is always a risk to rework a painting, but sometimes it works out and the results are amazing, so I kept taking out another one and working on it until I saw that it was not working out.

• Each one ended up sanded down and re-primed, or thrown out. The underlying textures couldn't be undone and interfered with the direction I wanted to go.  Sometimes it is better to start fresh than to keep struggling through it.

• After the third time, I wondered what was really going on with me.  I haven't destroyed a painting in a long time. Why so many these days? Tired of so many unfished pieces? Don't care anymore? Frustrated?   
•  I'm still not sure what is going on with me, but I stopped pulling them out of storage - didn't want to destroy any more of them! (Some are worth the effort to hang onto until I figure out what to do with them next.)  

• Most of them were unfinished demonstration paintings that needed attention, but one was a medium to large painting that I wanted to go back over in a more impressionistic style, which I regretted that I messed with it.  But I didn't want to continue with the extreme detail I had started out with. Hours and hours of work just thrown out. 

•  My style is changing again.  I'm trying new ideas. Things don't come together like they used to. So I am backing off, searching for what really inspires me, and not taking it so seriously for now. 

• I am all over the place! I love detail, but I love painterly styles too. I like the abstract nature of reflections and moving water.  I like thick textures, but mostly on things like bark, wood, or rough water. I get bored easily and want to try new ideas and techniques.  

• Some judges have told me (over the years) that I need a consistent style and a more cohesive body of work.  But I honestly don't seem to be able to settle on any one way to create things.  I guess that's Ok too!