on June 20, 2021
What a difference a frame makes
Saturday I fulfilled another bucket list goal to have a market stall My art group was displaying their art at the winter markets in Mooloolah so I decided to have a stall a mix of art works and photography and books and bric a brac . I did all the things ,spent a day rummaging around in the bowels of my storage unit finding unused treasures I was willing to part with ,ironed clothes ,even bought a portable clothes rack to hang the clothes on ,bought little sticky labels to put on everything, Went to bed late fussing with stuff and got up while it was still dark and pretty bloody cold Thought to myself “who does this?” Did not feel like leaving my warm toasty bed after so few hours sleep but it was worth it getting up early to see a beautiful golden sunrise coming up over the water.
Caught an uber over to the hall and by the time I got there most of the stalls were already set up I managed to pull things together before the hoards arrived never did manage to assemble the portable clothes rack so hung stuff on the window ledge to the side of my stall.
I didnt sell much but to tell the truth I wasn’t a very good stall holder. I found it hard standing for long periods behind the stall and had to make an effort to talk about my book and just fed up with the same old speil, was much happier flitting around talking to my artist mates checking out the other stalls and making frequent trips to the food and coffee vans
The “before” frame
The best part for me was I decided to purchase a beautifully delicate paint and wash floral work by Sue Faulkner a lady in my art group who does lovely light joyful work .She had squeezed this lovely 8×10 painting into a really crappy frame and was selling it for next to nothing
The ‘after’ frame
So I bought it and as luck and serendipity would have it I just happened to have with me a brand new very elegant frame I was planning to use for one of my own prints . So I decided to use it for Sue’s painting instead .The transformation was just amazing This pretty little artwork with new matts and elegant grey outer frame looked so beautiful .
I couldn’t wait to show Sue so she could see what her painting was really worth in the right frame . Sue glowed with pride and went on to sell 3 more paintings that morning .I could easily have put the painting back in the gallery with a price tag of several hundred dollars on it but I love it and will not part with it and Sue has promised next time we are at Art together shes going to lead me through the steps to do a Paint and Wash myself
How you frame a painting can absolutely make it elevate it honour it and showcase it to its best
or sadly diminish and undermine it and impoverish it . The right frame is really important .