"Custom Framing and Mats", Port Credit Village Times, V. 1 Ed. 2, June/July 2007.
Custom framing can be overwhelming with the vast variety of choices available in today’s market. Anyone who has gone out to custom frame that special piece, no doubt has been confronted with numerous choices. At my frame studio I see people every day who know little about how to frame any given piece of work. I am sure they know what they don’t want but cannot envision what they are looking for.
In order to achieve a goal in custom framing a variety of decisions need to happen. Do you need matting? Should we use conservation framing methods? Does the piece need glass? What kind of glass? How should we mount the artwork? What size of frame? What style of frame?
Through my experiences and expertise I will give my advice through this series of articles in the Port Credit Village Times in the months to come. This month I will focus on matting and mounting.
Any image on paper will only be enhanced through the use of matting. Matting is the border that you often see surrounding an image, which separates it from the frame, giving the image more importance in the overall framed package. When working on a frame design with mats there are three things to consider. Conservation, size and colour.
Frequently I am asked if we use conservation mat board. The answer is simple and always yes. If you are spending the time, effort and money to have something custom framed the matting is not where you try to save some money by using a regular mat. The benefit of using a museum quality conservation mat board is the preservation qualities. Unlike regular mat board, conservation mats will not cause discolouring of the artwork, or cause acid “burns” to the paper (the yellowing of the paper, often becoming very brittle), or yellow from the core out. You can only guarantee the mats to be conservation quality from a professional frame studio, make sure you look on the back of the samples as they should be clearly marked. Conservation mat board will insure a long life for both your artwork and frame itself.
The size of the mat is very important. Essentially it comes down to what my clients are most comfortable with, however I always recommend wider mats. When you are looking at mat samples they are typically 4” wide. But remember, you are custom framing, they can be any width you want. On most pieces I like to see a 3”-4” mat as it gives the artwork room to “breathe” by adding necessary space between the image and the frame. Often when looking at samples clients have the tendency to want to reduce the mat width to 1”-2”, which I find creates a distraction with the lines of the mats and frames so close together. When looking at the samples, also take a look around the gallery, more often than not wide mats have been the style of choice. They add importance, size and modern style to any frame design.
Colour. With literally thousands of different mat colours to choose from even I, after almost ten years, can get overloaded. There are tricks to simplify colour choice. The first is easy, the top mat colour. Are you going for a more neutral look, or are you trying to create a bold look? In most cases I recommend neutral colours, they allow the artwork to standout and will go with any décor, even if you re-paint a few years down the road. If you want a bold look you could create this using the frame or perhaps an inside mat. I consider neutral colours to be softer in colour, not necessarily just whites, beiges and creams. Often we will accent a colour within the image with an inside mat, which is located below the top mat and shows up to ¼” in most cases. When accenting, try to complement a colour in the image, keeping in mind the look you are going for in the overall frame design. Bold? Traditional? Subtle? If you are having trouble, try doing a double white mat, or repeating the same colour. Another tip might be to raise the top mat, giving the design more depth without the use of multiple mats.
Above all, always remember there is more than one perfect frame design for each piece. Keep an open mind, and it should feel right when you see the right frame design. Also, you should feel comfortable with whoever is working with you to create the perfect design. Professional custom frame design takes patience, time, skill, creativity and vision.
In the next issue I shall look at glass and the different options available. For more information please contact Christopher Adair at 905.278.2117 or visit www.albionartgallery.com