3rd Life For A Pair of Frames

The Frame Finds

A while ago I posted about finding a pair of frames and the subsequent makeover using gold foil (failure) and gold paint (decent).  As part of the continuous parade of ideas, free stuffs, and design 'pivots' in this home space frames are known to come and go - and eventually those frames went on their way too.  But the story doesn't end there! No, these particular frames ended up with a new life and an old identity all at the same time....

The First and SECOND Makeovers

Just a recap, these frames looked like this when I found them with French architectural photographic prints inside:

First Version

Then after the first makeover they looked like this, featuring some vintage bird images downloaded from the Biodiversity Heritage Library, resized, and printed on photo paper:

Second Version

That is the form in which I gave them to a friend who was looking to fill some empty walls.  One day, while we were hanging some *other* art pieces around the house, I let her know that these frames still had their original French architectural prints inside - just hidden in the back under some cardboard.  

Surprise! 

She had, by pure coincidence, recently found and hung a picture of Notre Dame in Paris in another room of the house.  I showed her the original French architectural prints, and a little bit of an idea was planted.

Later on I got a message that she had decided to repaint the frames (second makeover!) to match the green matting on her Notre Dame picture and to reveal the original French architectural photo prints (the birds happily taking a backseat).

Third Version

Conclusion

Is this a conclusion, or will these frames go through a third makeover? The life of a freestyle find is full of surprises. For now these framed prints live on a lovely gray wall, flanking an image of Notre Dame and the Seine on a sunny day in Paris. (Also loving that chair rail and moulding on the lower wall.)

Where it's at.

Happy freestyling, and don't forget you can sometimes store one piece of art behind another in the same frame!

Framed!! An odyssey of gold foil experimentation

The Find

As per usual, one night I was walking around on trash night and found some beautiful frames out in the discard pile.  There were three frames, but they were heavy and one had broken glass. I however, have only two hands and a strong dislike of accidentally slicing open my skin in the name of salvaging and freestyling.  You might have guessed that I only took two of the frames.  You might also have guessed that I regret not going back for the third one and just... being.... really.... careful.  Alas, hindsight, 2020, etc.

Anyway, the two frames that I did take had cool vintage-style photograph prints of French architecture.  I thought about keeping these 'as is' since I like the subject matter, but the frames were just too heavy looking to feel right with the rest of the decor.

The Find: Framed vintage photo print

The original black and silver (silver-bronze? silverish?) frames would have been perhaps suited to an Art Deco illustration, but on this frame there was some surface damage on the silverish section which pushed me towards a makeover.  I decided that this would be a good chance to experiment with a new-to-me re-finishing material - imitation gold leaf.

Back of frame with dustcover removed

In order to reduce the weight of the frames I discarded all of the glazing (the front glass).  One had a chip in it that I hadn't noticed originally, so it was safest to discard the entire piece.  When taking apart the piece to clean it and prepare for makeover I learned that the frame is not wood, but some sort of plastic composite.

The Makeover ... Odyssey

I ordered some imitation gold leaf flakes in the VERY MISGUIDED thought that they could be used like sprinkling sugar onto icing. So easy in my head, lay down some glue, sprinkle on gold leafy flakes, brush off the excess, get smoothish shiny finish. Oh so wrong. So so wrong.   I started with the outside of one frame, thinking maaaaybe the gold flakes would look interesting next to the original silverish part of the frame.

Imitation gold flakes, getting uglier...

Oh such an ugly mess.  

Seeing the outer part of the frame covered in the gold leaf convinced me that it would not look good next to the silverish part.  At this point I continued in my folly and kept covering the rest of the frame with irregular pieces of imitation gold leaf.

Covered in imitation gold flakes

At this point I knew that it was going to look like even more of a hot mess if I continued down the flaky road. Naturally I thought MORE gold leaf was the cure, this time in the form of large squares.  I applied these squares of the same material to the other frame.  It looked slightly better, mostly because it was easier to cover larger areas with one sheet.  This also made it less likely that glue would get on the top of the imitation foil and change the finish.

Imitation gold squares (left) provide better coverage than flakes (right)

Below you can see a close-up side-by-side comparison of the same type of gold foil, but applied in two different forms (flakes vs. squares). The same adhesive was used in both cases.

Closeup of squares vs. flakes coverage

By this point I was oddly determined to make this imitation goil foil work.  

Let the experimentation continue! 

I covered the 'flaked' frame with a second layer of imitation gold foil squares, this provided better coverage, but didn't cover up the texture from the original layer of flakes.  Unfortunately imitation gold foil isn't sand-able, apparently this will just scratch the surface without really smoothing - at least according to the internets.  I didn't want to mess this up further by scratching though my painstakingly applied foil, so I decided to love the texture.  

After finishing the full application of imitation gold foil squares to both frames I realized that they looked a little too bright. Too fake shiny, almost plastic.  Ok, what's the solution to something too shiny? Matte clearcoat perhaps?

Outside we went to apply some spray matte clearcoat.

Applying spray matte clearcoat

The difference was dramatic. 

After applying the matte clearcoat I began to believe that this art project was not in fact going to end with some swear words and two large frames in my own curbside 'free' pile.

After matte clearcoat (left) vs plain imitation gold foil (right)

At this point after applying the clearcoat I realized I wanted to compare the imitation gold foil finish to the painted gold finish I had used on a frame that now held a poster of minerals.  The gold foiled frame, even after the clearcoat, still looked a little too bright, too harsh.  You can see the difference in the photo below.

Painted gold (left) vs. Imitation gold foil (right)

The side-by-side comparison with the painted frame showed just how different the imitation gold foil was - far more yellow - when compared to the paint.  To my eyes the paint looks warmer, with more orange and red tones, as compared to the colder brighter yellow of the imitation gold foil.

By now my determination for loving and living with the imitation gold foil finish (plus matte clearcoat) was fading, to be replaced with the realization that it was time to paint over the gold foil with my existing jar of creamy gold paint.

Could I get away with just a diluted "wash" of the paint?

Gold paint 'wash' over gold foil, ugly.

Huh. No. Looks like some sort of bug bodily fluid sprayed itself over the frame and concentrated into the crevices created by the foil.  Better to just use the regular paint, and regular old painting techniques, for the entire frame.

So that is what I did while I was waiting for my prints, source from the amazing amazing amazing FREE resource known as the Biodiversity Heritage Library, to arrive.

Conclusion (at last!)

Finally. The frames were painted gold, the texture even seemed a little more interesting when it was mellowed by the warmer gold paint, and the vintage natural history illustration of a heron was in place.

Framed heron illustration

Happy freestyling, and yes, experimentation can take longer than expected.  Prepare yourself!

Framed: Travails of the Quails

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.

Framed watercolor out for trash pickup

Yes, it happens. Thank you universe.
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.

Broken glass stuck in frame

I cleaned off the front and back with a vaccuum, and wiped off the entire outer frame with a gentle cleaner.

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.

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.

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.

Repainted frame with original watercolor

Artist signature: Ray Garner

I don't know anything about the named signed on this piece, Ray Garner. At any rate, nice work Ray!

Happy freestyling and art appreciating!

Water-damaged squoval mirror makeover

 While out and about I saw this mirror out in a discard pile somewhere.  Made all the way back in 1999. 

Too bad! Upon closer inspection it appeared that part of the frame had suffered from water damage.  I think it is a press-wood or press-board frame because the damaged part had expanded when it got wet.

What do you think of the shape? I like the outer shape of a square but the inner part being a pointed oval to reveal the mirror - the best of both worlds.

The front was a bit roughed up, you can see the lighter streaks of discoloration. Luckily the hanging hardware (inset keyhold hardware) was still intact on the back side.

I thought about taking the mirror out of the frame and either cutting a new frame or mounting the mirror on an interesting shape of wood.  However, in the end, I decided to just spray paint the entire frame black in order to hide the uneven bits that had expanded.  I used a gloss black spray paint and the look was fine, buuuuuut a bit severe. It felt a little too goth chic, so I added a pop of green with a stencil in the upper left corner.  And yes, I was not careful enough about overspray. Lesson learned. 

Now it reminds me of a woman wearing a flower in her hair, instead of a look glass towards impending doom..... or something.

Free wall mirrors are always fun to play around with since they are a useful item in almost every kind of space.  Now this one is ready for a new life.

Happy freestyling!

Sailing into a future involving gold paint, a framing adventure

The Find

While out for an evening walk I came across this LARGE and beautifully framed photo of a sailboat.  Framed with real glass in the front, amazingly unbroken, and reliably heavy.  So what did I do?  I carried it home with only a vague purpose in mind, thinking maybe it would fit some fancy paper that I bought to use as a poster.

The freestyle green-framed find

The Makeover

Normally I love teal. Teal is my jam.  Cerused teal? Are you kidding? I refinished an end table AND refinished a small oak bookshelf to try to achieve a similar look.  With this frame I think the pattern is some sort of overlay, or something printed on, it isn't actually teal-dyed perused wood.  Perhaps it is for the better because a frame made out of solid oak would have been even heavier.

Corner detail or the original frame

With this frame I wasn't feeling the teal, I was feeling the fake gold.  First things first, I had to take it all apart and clean it, oh, and sadly throw out the large intact piece of glass.  Sigh. It made me sad, but having glass in large frames makes them heavy, which makes them harder to hang, and that glass is very breakable which makes me nervous.  Heavy + breakable + suspended from a single nail on a wall is not a reassuring combination.  Anyway, here is what the frame looked like underneath the dust wrapper, pretty standard assembly.

Inside the back of the frame

Lots of little framer's points to pull...and save for later.

Inside of the back of the frame, corner detail

The first coat of gold paint is always a little streaky. I expected it to take a few coats to cover the darker green and bald underneath....and I was right.  Patience is the key, I try to use thin coats with plenty of dry time in between. 

After the first goal of gold paint

After the painted was complete I looked at some decorative papers I'd purchased and with the existing matting they were the right WIDTH but not the right LENGTH...... you can see some of backing board showing at the bottom with printed text on it.

Poster with backing showing

I wanted to use this "Minerologie" paper anyway so I decided to fill in the blank spot at the bottom of the frame with slightly textured watercolor paper. 

Poster with backing covered by watercolor paper

After some generous use of double-sided tape I re-assembled all the pieces, including poking those original framer's points back into their original holes.

You can see the edges between the watercolor paper pieces a little better in the close-up below.

Closeup, corner detail of watercolor paper overlapping poster

The Final Result

I LOVE the way this turned out, even with the oddity of the watercolor paper at the bottom. I just think of it as a title bar like you sometimes see on posters purchased from museums.  In this case it happens to be a blank title bar, but no matter, I can always fill it in with some script if I ever trust my own handwriting.

Minerals poster in new gold-painted frame

I think the warm shininess of the gold paint is an excellent setting for this colorful poster of minerals.

Happy freestyling, don't be afraid to take the freestyle frame even if you aren't sure what it will turn into.  Finding beauty from scavenged pieces gets easier with practice.

Cosmic Kismet - A wooden frame finds a new destiny

In the beginning...

...there was a frame posted for free on a website, amongst some other frames.  And it was taken by yours truly sometime in the fall of 2019. THANK YOU FRAME GIVER!

The first part of this freestyle

The wooden frame was examined, turned over, considered from all angles, and offered to friends who might be looking for an unusual size piece to fill with some original art (or who were into the original Wyeth print).

Andrew Wyeth print in wooden frame

Back side of the fame

The frame was pondered for a while, offered to other friends, and I considered trying to create something original of my own to fit the size. But its time had not yet arrived, destiny was still waiting, my indecisive delay was all part of the plan.

The chance conversation that revealed a destiny

And then a friend went to Nepal, and brought back a hand-painted poster of the cosmos wrapped up tightly in a poster tube for transport.....and then some time after returning the friend mentioned that he needed a frame for his new art, and asked if I could help.

Upon seeing the cosmos painting my eyes nearly popped out is disbelief. Not only did I have a frame, it was beautiful wood and had the PROPER DIMENSIONS. This was freestyle fate, or magic, it couldn't have been a coincidence.  So I started the process of dismantling the frame and carefully flattening the hand-painted poster that had been rolled up for so many weeks. I covered the art with wax paper and then some heavy books and just let it sit undisturbed for a few weeks.

Hand-painted cosmos, covered with wax paper,
underneath the original matting for size comparison

When the time was right to get started on the frame makeover, the first step, as always, was to disassemble the frame to clean all the components.

Back of the frame, dust cover and points removed

Wooden frame on its own

This particular wood frame had a very open grain, and it was a bit rough in places. I'm not sure if the roughness of the wood was a deliberate choice to go with the rustic style of the print, or a result of the age of the frame and perhaps the wood drying out over time.

Corner view of wooden frame before refinishing

Scuffed part of wooden frame, before refinishing

No matter the cause, I like my frames to feel smooth, even if their main purpose is to be looked at, not handled.  So I decided to gently sand the whole frame to smooth the surface with a fine grit sandpaper.

Wooden frame, smooth after a gentle sanding

After sanding, I finished the whole piece with furniture wax to give the wood some protection and shine.

Frame after first application of furniture wax

Closeup of frame after furniture wax application

After applying the furniture wax and buffing it to a shine, I allowed the frame to sit for at least a day to allow the wax to cure.

Conclusion

I delicately reassembled the frame with the poster, and was over-the-moon with the results.  See what beauty some patience and karma can lead to?

Refinished wooden frame with hand-painted cosmos art

Sweet cosmic dreams

Happy freestyling.

Framed! A new home for the blue Christmas Tree Worm

The Discovery

Frames are fun. So fun they might be considered addictive, because who can resist transforming something with a simple coat of paint and a new subject?
I saw this frame out for the taking, very dusty - but with intact glazing (glass) in the front.  Checking for intact glazing is crucial when getting free frames because people often discard frames with broken glass - which can be very dangerous to handle.

The original found frame

The framed subject matter of some olive oil and lavender, although gentle and cottage-style, was not my style, nor was the off-white (aged bone?) color of the frame.  I did like the 'carving' detail around the frame edge though. I thought that with some new paint this could be made-over into something that might have a place in my home or office.
The only question was, gold paint or black? Hmmmmm.

The makeover

The first step in the makeover was to disassemble and clean the frame. The frame was nothing fancy, all the pieces were held in place with staples placed around the edge - these were easy to pull out using a pair of pliers.

Staples that had to be pulled out to disassemble the frame

After disassembly I wiped everything down with ammonia-based glass cleaner, and vacuumed around the edges of the frame to get rid of any stray fluff.  I then carefully removed (peeled) the print from the back of the matting where it was glued on in such as way to not damage the matboard since I was planning on reusing it.

The pieces after disassembly

The choice between black or gold paint was decided by one simple fact, I have A LOT of black paint on hand from when I painted this chair.  It's not a pure black, but a softer dark grey-black.  The picture below shows the frame after the second coat of paint.

Frame painted in Black Iron (custom mix)

Although the two coats of paint slightly obscure the floral detail around the edge it is still visible enough to give a sense of texture. This is not a valuable frame, just simple pressboard, so I don't anticipate much close scrutiny.

After deciding on a photo to frame, I attached it to the back of the matboard with some art tape.  Then I reassembled the whole thing and placed new staples around the edge.  Since I wanted the staples to stick out from the edge of the frame back I held the staple gun up to a screwdriver that was positioned between the center of the staple gun and the side of the frame.

I also found two tiny screws and some old picture hanging wire to add to the back.  This was necessary because I was changing the orientation of the image from portrait to landscape.  The tiny screws seem like they would have been easy to screw into the back of the frame, but it was surprisingly dense. I ended up using an electric drill to make things easier on me. Yay power tools!

Tiny screws - to wrap picture wire around

Below is a photo of the back of the frame after full reassembly and with new hanging wire added.

Ready for a new showcase

The Conclusion

I love how this project turned out!  The black frame and the white mat set off the photo of an ombre blue Christmas Tree Worm wonderfully.  In case you are wondering what Christmas Tree Worms are, you can read more about them here.  I had this photo printed from Costco's online photo store because you can get 8x10 prints for an AMAZINGLY CHEAP price of around $2 each.  

Wall beauty for less that a cup of coffee? Yes please. 

Beautiful blue Christmas Tree Worm parts

Happy freestyling!