Fancy Frames
Happy me, happily claimed Frog Prince painting, and happy client.
“A Regal Bearing” (3.5”x3.5” acrylic on board) sold at Joy of Art 2025 Vernissage Foyer Gallery
Gosh I love fun frames, especially true antique ones, or really over-the-top ornate ones. I’d love to tell you the origin story of one chunky golden frame - fit for monarchy - that was recently purchased. It is small, but mighty, boasting only 8.5” in overall width, with a picture opening a mere 3.5” square.
In addition to collecting frames, another one of my passions is to reuse or repurpose things. My poor husband is very tolerant of my bringing items home (from the curb, on garbage day) to either donate to second-hand stores, or fix up myself for our personal use. I just hate seeing good things discarded.
Well, I found the gold molding of the aforementioned chunky frame one such garbage day. It was originally a length of elegant, narrow shelving, the kind one affixes to a wall to act as a pretty little ledge for a photo or small curios. I nabbed it with dreams of transforming it. Fortunately, a clever friend skilled at carpentry very kindly agreed to cut it down and reassemble it into a frame for me. He was a bit baffled by the request, stating that given the limited length of the molding, it would house only a very small painting. I knew this and had no problem with it. You see, I’d done it before.
Years ago, when I was just starting out on my adventure of exhibiting art (at Stratford’s Art in the Park in my hometown), I was working for a photo studio. They stocked frames, and were sometimes sent odd, random sizes of frames made from the off-cuts of really beautiful Italian-made molding. It was rare that such frames could be used since they were not standard sizes, so my boss gave me a great deal on them.
When I exhibited work in some of these unusual, dramatic frames down at the park, people often remarked on them. One chap asked where I got them as he loved the idea of buying several to make a gallery wall full of these elegant frames displaying the work of his small children. Just as that man’s intent was to bring some added ‘value’ to his kids’ art, the ornate frames I used bumped an attractive (yet simple) painting up into a higher echelon of perceived value.
I am not a professional framer, so the reality that a particularly showy frame can actually detract from the art and/or scare off buyers is a concept to which I don’t worry about too much. If I love a frame, I’ll love using it. That enjoyment and love tends to emanate from the final product – even if the frame isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. For me, the pairing is what’s critical. You can’t have the crazy frame without a suitable painting in it; and that same painting really needs the crazy frame to complete it. That’s what happened with this audacious gold frame that my friend crafted out of my neighbour’s discarded décor.
It was simply a question of what on earth to put in it. The idea of a Frog Price seemed perfect. The juxtaposition of a humble amphibian on a very plain lily pad surrounded by such decorative, golden glory amuses me. It would make no sense either, if it were not for the tiny gold crown resting upon the frog’s brow. Ta-da! The frame fit for monarchy became the ideal one in which to house this little painting!
I submitted the artwork to an art exhibit and upon arriving at the gallery to see how the “Hanging Committee” had displayed the vast number of pieces submitted to the show, I was tickled pink to see where my painting was displayed. Its size meant it could fit on a board of similarly-sized artworks laid out in a simple grid pattern. But no. “A Regal Bearing” (the title I gave my Frog Prince painting) was given a dedicated plinth/pedestal all of its own, showcased ‘on high’ beside the grid of other paintings! But it wasn’t there long – a couple hours after the Vernissage began, the little painting in the lofty frame was purchased!
For some visuals, see below for a collection of frames I have loved. They usually have a fun backstory, and it brings me an inordinate amount of pleasure to dream up a suitable “pairing” of art to create that will hopefully bring mutual enhancement to both the painting and frame.
Click on any painting below to see it enlarged.
