Wow, what a great perk of working at the Gallery! When you cut those insides out of the mat board, then you often have a nice piece to work with again….that is cool.

I don’t know of any charity type framing organization here. That would be positive. We don’t have the same kind of charity shops you have there in the UK…which are amazing!

I have one piece which is flat under glass…not one of these…which works fine. The challenge with the larger one of these is the relief where it would have to sit away from the glass surface. I know if that happens, then I would visually loose a lot of the texture and color with the space between the surfaces.

Thanks Fiona. I really appreciate your input here.

I really love these woven pieces you do! The colours and textures are just smashing!

I do find the price of framing prohibitive! I was lucky enough to work in an art gallery a while ago and learned how to do alot of the framing so I got a discount but even then! I did get to mount stuff for free though if there were scraps of mount card around that I wanted to use. That was a great perk of the job!

There is a homeless charity around where I live where they have set up a framing business which I think is non-profit making. They do a pretty good job, it’s for a great cause and it’s about half the price! I wonder if there is anything like that around you?

I wonder if you should try fixing these pieces under glass. I’m sure one could still see the texture, even if they couldn’t feel it. And it would stop dust getting caught in it! It’s certainly a framing challenge. I’m sure they’ll look wonderful whatever you do with them!

You know I really like the sturdiness of the deep gallery wrapped canvases and am particularly drawn to the ones without the staples.

It is interesting because I think even viewers are interested in the paintings as opposed to the frames which were, at one point, a very important part of art work. I suppose I am not at all surprised to hear the artists work sold quickly when the frames were removed. That is also the reason I think the floater frames are appealing when a frame is really needed for whatever reason. The bare canvas is also in keeping with the integrity of the work and the materials…sans anything to detract from the original. My personal opinion.

Mmmmm, I suppose I can see where canvas would be a positive seller there in Santa Fe. People have their perception of what the SW (and specifically Santa Fe) means and the unframed canvas reflects the natural, simple environment there. In SF, there are a lot more perceptions depending on a person’s point of view. I personally see it as a vibrant, very contemporary (cutting edge) community. But there is also the Victorian history which is so strong, too.

Interesting things to consider, to be sure.

Thanks San for allowing me to ramble even more.

Framing: I work exclusively on deep, gallery wrap canvas. This, fortunately, seems to work with my “style” of painting. It’s been a godsend for several painters we represent. One of our landscape painters used to put everything in traditional gold mouldings, but when he started using the gallery wrap, his paintings started selling much faster. Go figure.

A few of our painters do frame their work, however. And we show next to no works on paper. When we were in San Francisco, we represented a pastel artist who worked rather huge. Framing for him was a major expense. Shipping the work was a challenge too, but we sold a lot of it. For some reason, in Santa Fe, there’s much more emphasis on canvas.

I am going to check it out.

Thanks

You know I agree with you about the lack of varnish. With acrylics it just doesn’t seem as though it is necessary…but maybe we will hear different from some others.

Hey, I think that is quite cool you paint the canvas to be a part of the paper work…two different approaches. I am sure both are wonderful.

Yes, if you would like to sell the kimonos, the canvas applications might be a very positive support for them. I will be very eager to see how that works out. I am also glad the R. B. directions were easy.

Wow, shoes from paper. Do you have photos? I would love to see them. Do you remember the disposable paper clothing idea in the ’60′s? Of course, thankfully, that never took off. But the idea of paper clothing art pieces is quite interesting.

Ahhh, push that button, Suki! Books…we all love them. I have been on a book purchase roll lately and am ready to do it again, as well.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful discussions here. I am always eager to hear what you have to say.

Both things you say about the kimono on canvas are true. What I’d like is to sell them so I think making them more formal is a great idea. I can’t wait to get some large stretchers and try this as I have two kimono, one finished and one nearly finished.

Thanks for explaining about the weavings. I understand now. I find it fascinating. Just an aside, I made shoes out of handmade paper a couple times. One a children’s size shoes. Both pairs sold as object d’arts not as shoes to wear. And I once bought a hat woven of paper. It was amazingly sturdy though i never wore it. I found it in a thrift shop. It was very funny.

And thanks for your inspiration re: book on inspiration. I have an order set up at Amazon for that bk, and Twyla Tharp’s book on creativity and some fiction by Esther Freud, Lucien Freud’s daughter. Who’s writing I love. Now I just have to press the order this now button.

I will be eager to hear if you give this a shake. They would have a bit more authority on the canvases…if that is a look you wish to achieve. The other thing is they will probably be better protected.

No, I don’t glue each part of the weavings. I weave the strips loosely, then manipulate the strips depending on the look I want. When I get this the way I want it, then I begin to glue parts of the weaving to hold it all together. These are single strips of paper…not folded at all. They are rice paper which is strong, but thin which makes it “floppy”. The more glue I use, the stronger they will be, of course. If I glued all of the pieces perfectly and neatly, I might be able to hang them freely. The other thing I have done is glued them to tissue which helps to hold them all together, if they are tightly woven.

This is something I need to keep working on to be sure.

Thanks So Much Suki for thinking about this for me.

Just wondering. I dont completely understand about your weavings, maybe I would if I saw them in person, but do you have to glue every part down? Could they be glued at the top say and hang free elsewhere? I know some paper weavings can be quite sturdy. I’ve seen in books ,weavings that are waste paper baskets etc. Then there is the house made entirely of newspapers, though not woven, glued I think.