First up is the talented Bill Mosley.  Bill is known for his amazing urbanscapes as he has documented San Diego’s changing visual stories.  Working with pastel on paper or oil on canvas, Bill depicts the buildings and the people that live in the environments those buildings create.  However, he has also shown a “softer” side,  illustrating nature and its stories as well.   Here are two of Bill’s beautiful original pastels that are great examples of how a piece can be transformed with different frames, how some frames will showcase the piece as intended while other frame styles can actually take away from the beauty of the art itself.

We will use this pastel series to demonstrate how framing can truly impact a piece.  We have gathered a few different frame styles along with neutral mats to show how these same two pieces can go from clean and contemporary to warm and natural simply by swapping out frames and frame combinations.   Here are just a few examples of the unlimited options available.

Since the piece is an original pastel, we will have to include a “spacer” to prevent the mat and glass from rubbing against and smearing the artwork.

The first style option is to bring out the warm tones of the piece and create a “natural” look.  By selecting a honey toned wood frame and cream colored mat, the piece looks transitional and could be hung in any decor.  One thing to keep in mind when coming to select frames for your pieces is proportion.  Always vary the width of the mat with the width of the frame.  Avoid using the same dimension on both.  In other words if you are using a 3 inch frame, go with either four inches or two inches of visible mat.  This creates interest to the piece.

To add additional interest, we have also included a fillet and have sandwiched the mat between the honey wood frame and burl wood fillet to increase the dimension and impact of the piece.  Again, this particular style would work in both a traditional and modern setting.  This piece on a crisp white wall would look incredible.

Here is an example where we stacked the fillet within the frame but there is another style option still.  Here we show two different mat choices: a thicker mat to further bulk up the piece or a thinner mat which keeps it more streamlined. Either way, we still keep the width of the frame larger or smaller than the width of the mat.

To create a more contemporary look, a sleek metal frame takes these pieces from warm and natural to clean and modern.  This particular metal frame has depth to it which will also give the piece more depth, creating a shadow box like effect.  This makes the piece project more off the wall making it “pop”.  Since the frame profile is quite slender, we chose a thick white mat to create a very high-end modern appeal.

Before we compare the two different styles side-by side, here is an example of what NOT to do:

As you can tell from the photo, this frame does absolutely nothing to showcase the beautiful artwork.  The color and profile of the frame is a poor choice for this piece as it was simply “thrown” on.  Take the time and let us guide you through the design process to select a frame style that will show your piece in the best light.

Look at the side-by-side comparison to see just how different these original pastels can look.  It’s all dependent upon style preference and taste.   It’s incredible how we can change the overall feel of the pieces by simply changing out the frame components:

With so much to choose from, frame design is a creative, fun process with unlimited options available.    Stop by Artware and say hi.  We would love to help guide you through the process!

]]> http://www.artwaresd.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=6 2 http://www.artwaresd.com/blog/?p=3 http://www.artwaresd.com/blog/?p=3#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:04:25 +0000 Jeremy Dunaway http://www.artwaresd.com/blog/?p=3 We are currently upgrading our website to serve our clients more efficiently We hope you will take the time to look it over .