Trapped

Whodunnit

Don't be fooled by the innocent bystander fleeing the scene.

Primary suspect was found in vicinity of victim, chewing on internal squeaking device. Convicted and jailed without trial.

Finished Frame wth Sand Band

Finished up the frame with the "sanded" band in time to submit to show with Artists' Guild of Shrewsbury (http://www.artistguildshrewsbury.com/) . You can see in-progress sand work at:

http://forthillstudios.blogspot.com/2012/01/sand-on-frames.html

Watercolor Garden

Our spring like weather (in February!) has perhaps inspired me to finish up some of the painting projects. This is a watercolor of the garden next door in Wiscasset.

Maple-grained Frame

I had one stick of this molding kicking around - don't know if it was a regular item from supplier, or a custom order - but I hope to get more. I had made a frame, and with the top flat surface expected to gesso and add a composition ornament border. But, as I was grain-painting something else, I decided to do a paint finish on this as well, and just gild the inner lip. Once grained, it had such a nice early look that I decided a painted black lip might make it more suitable for an early paper item such as a fraktur or watercolor portrait.

"Sand" on Frames

In order to provide textured accents, there is a technique for using sand on gilded frames. I have used this before, and as I couldn't decide on a carved or incised design for a band on my current project, I decided that this would provide just the bit of interest this frame needed.

Basically, apply some glue, then pour sand on it. When dry, remove excess, and finish as desired.

For a small frame made for a print, the narrow recess was covered in a very even, fine sand obtained from a craft supply store.

For my larger frame, a coarser sand was needed, so I went to the sand bucket we keep (a winter necessity in New England), washed the sand to remove fine silt and any salt, etc. I picked out any outsize material (for large quantities, a sifter would be handy). The frame was already carved and gessoed; I will apply a thin coat or two of gesso over the sanded area before beginning the gilding.

Once you notice this technique, you will find it on a number of old frames, particularly 19th century ones. I saw a very large frame in the Baltimore Museum of Art that had large grit, essentially gravel. Stunning.

Frame Work

Need to finish up frame for a painting I will send to the Artist Guild of Shrewsbury (http://www.artistguildshrewsbury.com/) show this spring. Doing a low-relief carving. Then will do a gilded /paint finish.