A mountain of a frame

I found this framed poster of a Greek island scene in May, clearly someone was preparing to move and lightening their load. If it had been in a simple white frame I might have kept it as is, but the red marble paper, beige matting, red inner frame, and mottled beige outer frame just seemed to be too too too much for the simplicity of the image.

This frame is the real deal, and by that I mean heavy and well made.  The wire was even wrapped with tape so it wouldn't scratch the walls, nice touch!

The glass was intact and had a UV protection coating on it (at least according to the sticker on the back of the frame).  At one point it must have cost a bit of money because the frame was clearly professionally assembled.  But alas, over time its value was reduced to $0 and it ended up in the discard pile.  So I decided to take it, take it apart, and paint the frame.  I wasn't sure what I would put in the frame, but I knew the existing mottled beige/brown finish wouldn't go with anything I owned.  Disassembly involved pulling many little metal 'points' out of the frame, surprisingly satisfying work.  Here it is with all the layers removed, as you can see the red inner frame was attached to the outer mottled beige frame.

bye byre red and beige

After a few layers of 'Antique Iridescent Gold' acrylic paint I was ready to dig through my stuff and find something worthy of this shiny gold treasure.  In truth I had to stop painting because the cat stole my paintbrush and I can't find it, but it will turn up eventually.

Here is the reassembled frame from the back. You can see all the metal points holding the outermost foam core layer to the frame.  There is another foam core layer that is against the item being framed, not visible in this photo.

A little detail of the corners....

And the title of this piece I ended up framing is.... Jungfrau!  

It is a paper map of a Swiss Glacier from when I visited Switzerland many years ago.

 I don't have it hanging on a wall yet, so here it is sitting on the back of the couch.

Due to the size of the map I didn't use the beige matting, thus the paper is right up against the glass.  I know that is a 'conservation framing no-no' because there should be a space between the art and the glass in order for air to circulate.  However, this piece isn't super tightly sealed because the points aren't as tight fitting as they were originally.  Time will tell!

Happy frame-finding and freestyling!

Why you should accept spontaneous dinner invitations

I love it when other people do their spring cleaning, especially if they are thoughtful enough to leave things outside for me to find.  One night after spontaneous dinner at a friend's house I came across a large silver-color frame with a matted print inside, and cracked glass.
   (Pardon the grainy photo, it was taken at night so I had to lighten it up a bit.)

Cracked glass, but worth the weight of carrying it home.

 Even though the glass was cracked I carried the whole thing home a few blocks.  Nothing like some light lifting of freestyle finds after dinner to make the evening feel like a true adventure.

Oh glass, why you gotta be that way?

 Once home I was able to safely remove the glass and safely dispose of it inside a cardboard box.  After cleaning the frame I had to find a suitable new piece of art to frame since the original print, while striking, doesn't flow with the rest of our decor.

Solution, a map!

I found a colorful city map  with the right dimensions to fit the existing mat opening.  I haven't replaced the broken glass with any new glazing material, but with the original backing, matting, and spring clips the piece looks neat and tidy.

Happy freestyling.