framing Archives - Dora Sislian Themelis Art

Time to Cut More Mats

Cleaning up in the studio can sometimes lead to actually working in the studio. And I had high hopes of beating Mr. Resistance while in the middle of this chore. Alas, it didn’t work that way this time.

However, I did come to one conclusion: paintings on paper need a mat.

There is something about matting a work that says “Finished.” A mat lends a neat look to a painting, much like framing does. The two together, a mat with a frame, is preferable. But even the mat alone cleans up the work and gives it some room to breathe.

Besides, the work won’t flop over when being shown at those shopping events.

In the photo above, you can see how my watercolor paintings look with and without mats. Those with look nice, clean, and professional. Yes, the paintings without a mat are wonderful, but I think they will display a better appearance with that bit of frame.

So, in an effort to argue with Mr. Resistance to stop visiting, I took a small step toward working.

Matting is working. I may be going old school by using a T-square, triangle, and a razor blade, but it’s fine with me. A few mats a day won’t hurt. Paying a framer hurts. Buying a mat cutting device hurts.

Anyway, I can cut a mean bevel with my bare hands.

To Mat or Not to Mat, That’s the Question

Preparing to present work to the public takes time. Since I decided to participate in this upcoming art show, I had to look through my work, chose which to bring, which to leave behind, mat or leave bare, mat and frame, or not bother.

Watercolor paintings are painted on pretty sturdy paper. It’s not easily bent, however care needs to be taken in the transporting of the pieces. And should something sell, the buyer needs some way to take the work with them, protected by something.

Which to chose?

This week I visited the art supplier near me for vinyl, acid free sleeves. Another online artist was sending out her work in such a thing and I asked where she purchased them. I thought I saw something like it somewhere. I found them in different sizes and bought a few packs.

The question now is to mat or leave the work bare? And, which pieces, and how many?

Some of my work already had mats, and I found a few left from another time I made some. So the matting job would be left for only a few larger works. Mats make the work look finished and neat.

If I mat some work, is it a must that all be matted?

Then there’s the pricing thing. From what I gather from others, the price is the price. It doesn’t matter when the work was done, there shouldn’t be a discount for that. I don’t think the price should change if there is a mat or not either. I will just bring different sizes of work to cover various prices.

Frames are another story. Have you seen the price of frames? Wow. And I shopped in the local craft store, not the custom framing section either! Amazing.

I’m not sure how many pieces to bring. I have an old school, box style portfolio case and I might fill it with work. If I sell out, I should only sell out, I’ll have more pieces to show that I could pull from the case.

Look at me, all I think I’ll sell out! We have to think big here and there.

Back in the Saddle Again

Last week I mentioned that I missed the deadline for the Virtual pARTy painting entry. Not a problem, no biggie, no hassle, no judgement, no criticism. I was cool with that. I just decided to paint the photo that was offered anyway, remembering the process was important, not the deadline or the result. Cool as a cucumber. I went ahead except for a little thinking first.

I’m itching to try out the new watercolor paper I bought after you wonderful, helpful readers made suggestions, but I didn’t. Being a practical person, I bought a good size block of Arches paper rather than a tiny one to try. I’d rather spend money on a good sized 12×16 block rather than a smaller size paper and feel frustrated by the constraints of the size.

I tend to paint big no matter what size surface I’m using. I still have more of the other paper and it seems to me to be a waste if I start using the new paper, fall in love maybe, and then I’m stuck with paper I might not want to use again. The paper I have is a weird size too and didn’t pay attention to that until I wanted to matte a few things.

Before I sketched this horse photo onto the old paper I took some time to figure out what size I might want to end up with. When matting and framing it’s much easier to work with stock sizes. So when I decided to think about my frame edge and paint within that area, with the idea that a matte, or frame, could butt into my composition. Ahh! The brain is working!

With the frame edge penciled off, I went ahead to composition, eliminated too many subjects from the original photo. I like to leave some areas flat as a part of the composition. Then there are colors in this photo I wouldn’t normally use, so I enjoyed playing with them. Orange is not my favorite, but I think I was able to use it my way by mixing in other colors my brain tends to go for anyway. It’s good to distract that pesky brain because when it’s working it shuts up.

Am I finished? Not sure. I’ll look at it later and see if I want to play with it more or move on. So for now I’m back in the “saddle.” I crack myself up!