Aldona Bird, Opinion

Artwork deserves top -notch framing

When I moved into my house, I taped some postcards and prints I’d collected while traveling abroad to my walls, always intending to swap them out for framed works.

That was four years ago, and while I’ve slowly replaced tape and Command hooks with more thoughtful looking frames, it’s been a project I’ve not focused on completing. To make this project even more complicated, I am very picky about picture frames.

 I’ve been picky since I was 18 years old. I remember specifically, because I was a freshman in college, studying photojournalism. At a guest photographer’s presentation about gallery staging, I learned what might seem obvious to many — that framing can make or break artwork.

 This guest lecturer pointed out that when people enter a space with beautiful images in black frames on a white wall, the first thing their brains register is black frames on white wall.

 Since then I’ve given lots of thought to framing.

 I’ve come to the conclusion that for my home, and for any exhibit I enter my work into, frames should do more than simply fulfill their namesake duty. They should go above and beyond to support the work, they should become part of it if possible.

The expense of framing has led me to creativity when I display my own or others’ artworks. My first exhibit post-college graduation was at my alma mater, of photos I’d taken while traveling.

To keep the exhibit cohesive between my work and the other participating graduate, we used the black metal frames belonging to the school. I had no money to spend on matting, so I made my own to visually support my work.

I used foam board and maps I’d picked up along my travels to make these mattes.

The next exhibit I participated in featured my nature photography. I gathered natural materials and tied them to the mounting boards as frames. These materials included branches, dried grasses, dried flowers and the like. Unconventional, and I’m sure not to everyone’s taste, but hit the spot for me.

When working to hang art in my home this week, I again didn’t even think of looking for conventional frames. Under normal circumstances I would have checked thrift shops first, in case lady luck took an interest in my home décor.

But since that option is currently off the table, I dove right into unconventional framing. I got inspiration from a poster hanger bought at Hoot and Howl; this consisted of four boards, two held together by set-in magnets for the top of the page to be hung, and two to weight it at the bottom.

I loved the simplicity, but with a handful of images to hang and a crafty nature, I dove into trying to make something similar. I soon discovered why these seemingly simple hangers weren’t super cheap. They are a pain to make, especially if you, like me, decide to try ripping a birch branch down the center to make the hanger.

My hands are still sore from working with the jigsaw. After hot gluing magnets onto the branches, I think the effort will be worth the pain for the two pieces I opted to hang.

I had an easier time making other hangers with a one inch by half an inch board, although drilling the holes to glue the magnets into remained a pain. The pleasure of seeing locally made art works adorn my walls will last much longer than my hand cramp.

ALDONA BIRD is a journalist, exploring possibilities of local productivity and sustainable living in Preston County.