The Find
It's always lawn and yard-care season somewhere. Sometimes amongst the tree trimmings and grass clippings you come across a charming framed picture of bobwhite quails.
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| Framed watercolor out for trash pickup |
I happily scooped up this lovely watercolor and carried it to the freestyle workshop for closer inspection. Now, it seems to me that the main reason people discard otherwise undamaged and well-framed pieces is that the glass (a.k.a. "glazing" in framing lingo) has broken - either a lot or a little. I think this is a shame, because custom replacement glazing - in the form of lightweight acrylic - can be purchased from a variety of online vendors. I've been using American Frame for years and they even offer UV-resistant acrylic options that are both lightweight and protective in custom-cut sizes. (Not a sponsored post!!). The important thing to know is that if you lose your glass you don't have to lose your art. Ok, back to the bobwhite quails.
The Makeover
After getting the piece home I examined the edges and I'm glad I did, there was a nice little piece of broken glass still stuck in the edge of the frame.
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| Broken glass stuck in frame |
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| Back of the found frame |
I decided to take the piece apart with an initial though of re-using the frame with another poster inside. The layers were held to the frame with points, indicating that this was probably hand-framed, not mass-produced in a factory. Framer's points tend to be found in custom-framed pieces, based on what I've found to date. Staples are what you see in more mass-produced pieces, usually lightweight presswood frames.
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| Detail of framer's points |
I considered reusing the frame for this poster of trees, sort of a cousin to the mineral poster I framed with an earlier found frame.
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| Tree poster inside frame |
While working on this piece a strange thing happened - the more I looked at the original bobwhite quail watercolor, the more I liked it. Peaceful imagery, soft blues and greens, really it just grew on me. The original gold-tone frame however, all scratched up, didn't. Paint to the rescue. Gold paint of course.
Conclusion
The gold paint that I used on this piece has much more warmth, maybe from orange tones, than the original gold-tone metal frame. I think this makes the entire piece *pop* a bit more, but I'm biased.
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| Repainted frame with original watercolor |
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| Artist signature: Ray Garner |