Yachting

This very dramatic yachting piece is acrylic on canvas paper and our customer wanted to do something extra special with it. We selected a classic scooped moulding which we added some extra depth to and then painted off-white. The painting was then double mounted and a matching blue sidewall was used to set the piece back from the glass, the glass itself was ‘invisible’ Artglass which removes 99% of the reflections. The end result is really spectacular and would look wonderful hung in a traditional or contemporary setting. A lovely piece to work on :)

Nelson Mandela

This morning I've been in a parking garage at Rhodes House in Oxford, varnishing the speed painting done my M.Raivard on Thursday evening. Not as impressive a location as the hall where he painted it, but that's why he's the famous artist, and I'm doing the varnishing ;-) It's a spectacular portrait of Nelson Mandela, a little over 2 meters tall and 2.5 wide he cuts a most impressive figure. The painting has a beautiful kaleidoscope of colours and the energy with which the paint was applied is self evident, very dramatic. However the warmth and calmness of Mandela's smile still shines out of the picture...and amazing painting of an amazing man...

Michael Raivard

I went to meet speed painter Michael Raivard this morning, a thoroughly charming chap who we’re doing some varnishing work for over the weekend. He was busy supervising the stage setting for a performance this evening at a private party in Oxford, lots of lights and music being organised in a beautiful setting, where he’ll produce his very large artwork in just a few minutes… An amazing painting experience, the total opposite from the way I paint, but fascinating to see how he organises everything. Am really looking forward to seeing what he’s painted when we go back on saturday…:) 

You can find out more about Michael at http://www.raivard.com/en/

Watch some of the videos…amazing stuff :)

Aboriginal Art

These are a couple of aboriginal style prints on cloth from Australia. We used a black frame with silver detailing and an off white mount. We've set the artwork at the back of the frame using coloured sidewalls in each frame, one blue and one orange to compliment the colours in the artwork. These lovely mementoes of our customers trip ‘down-under’ have now become pieces of artwork to be treasured.

Little Miss Poppy

Here’s a piece a young art collector brought in for framing. We used a bright blue frame with matching slip and an off-white mount….looks great :) So, which Mr Man/Miss would you choose ?

Print of Ravello

Normally at the Cuckoo's Nest we try and steer our customers towards modern, contemporary framing as much as possible, but occasionally traditional is the way to go. Such was the case with this beautiful little print of Ravello, our customer was having the piece framed as a gift for an older gentleman so we selected this thin black and gold frame moulding. In the past this might have been coupled with a hand lined mount, but this really does give a picture a dated feel. Instead of that we opted to use a double mount with a dark grey lower mount, this balances the colour of the print with the frame and gives us a traditional looking frame with a fresh feel.

Silk Print

This is a lovely silk print of some fish, the colours are amazing, this photo really doesn't do them justice. We've used a rich deep red mount and an oak frame which we've button polished to really bring out the warmth of the wood. Button polish doesn't work with everything, but the colours in this are so rich, it's the perfect choice.