Greyhounds

Here we have a lovely pastel drawing of two greyhounds with a wonderful sense of movement to it. We’ve used a double mount and classic black wooden frame to give a bold and unfussy look that sets off the subtle monochrome colour of the piece.

Tim Rudman photographs

These two works by fine art photographer Tim Rudman are handmade silver gelatin fine art prints. They have a beautiful velvet quality to the grain that reminds me of early photography, but the composition of both pieces is thoroughly modern.

Thin black frames, white mounts and UV glass set them off and protect them perfectly.

You can find out more about Tim's work and purchase his fabulous photos at http://www.timrudman.com

Spring Fair 2014

Yesterday we visited the Spring Fair at the NEC in Birmingham. Covering everything from Home Interiors to Jewellery, it’s a vast exhibition showcasing the latest designs and trends for 2014.

With nearly 300000 new products on display there’s a lot to take in, so after a brief detour for coffee, we headed straight to the Art & Framing Hall…

Chunky Black/White frames are proving very popular with Art publishers showing lots of graphic comic & cartoon images, everything from old Beano covers to Moomin & Marvel characters.

In a similar vein the popularity of artwork based on famous faces shows no signs of slowing down, a large Frank Sinatra portrait incorporating broken records to form his suit and hat was probably the standout piece, this was thickly resined and presented in another chunky black frame, this one of a highly glossed finish.

Resin was very prominent on everything from the famous faces, to abstracts and 3D woodland scenes similar to the ones Graham does here at The Cuckoo’s Nest. Framing on these resined pieces came in three distinct styles. None, on the abstracts, chunky black on the portraits and highly ornate on the 3D works.

Square, loosely painted landscapes and the perennial favourites, Cow & Hare portraits were still going strong, chunky white frames looking like the trend for these in 2014.

After exploring the art publishers, we headed off to see some of the frame stands, meeting up with current suppliers and making some new friends. After much chatting and now armed with the latest catalogues and leaflets for machines you never knew you needed, we headed for home…New additions to our frame mouldings ordered, new ready made frames on the way, new website up and running…we’re off to a flying start in 2014 :)

For the intrepid explorer

We've framed several of these Scratch Maps and they make a fantastic gift for the intrepid explorer in your life. This one we've framed up in a stylish bronze frame, the map has been mounted on stiff board for support and there’s no glass.

This particular map came from https://www.luckies.co.uk

Vintage Poster

Here we have a vintage washing machine poster which came in as part of an amazing collection of posters that we framed up for a customer recently. This one was a real feature piece (being about 130cm tall) so we opted for a simple, but striking, thick white gesso frame.

A gesso frame is made from bare wood which is covered with a mixture of animal glue and very fine chalk (The gesso), several coats of gesso are applied and once dried its sanded to give a beautiful smooth finish, some primer and a couple of coats of paint finish the job. its a time consuming process, but the end result is beautiful.

Paradise Lost

This absolutely beautiful linocut is ‘Paradise Lost’ by artist Linda M. Farquharson. We’ve gone for very understated framing, using just a simple black frame and no mount. The quality of the print is superb, a really lovely piece. You can find more of Linda’s work at http://www.linocut.co.uk

Maureen Gillespie

A couple of new frames for local artist Maureen Gillespie. A gorgeous gold frame and simple mount for one of her prints and an elegant black wooden frame for this lovely little painting of a boy leading his horse from the stables. You can find for of Maureen's work here... http://www.artbymaureengillespie.co.uk