How to best frame this original canvas oil painting?

[SvenSvenson]

A friend painted this picture of my son’s dog which I’d like to frame for him.

I’d like to keep the edges visible and it’s not valuable but it is original, so I don’t want to simply glue it to a backing board.

I was thinking of attaching it to a backing board, mount the board of a piece of foam board and then attach that to a other board (for a floating effect) and then frame the whole package.

Can I stitch canvas to a backing board? Or come up with a double-sided T-mount with mounting tape to mount the painting to a backing board before gluing that to foamboard etc?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[prospero]

By far the simplest method would be to mount the canvas on stretcher bars.
I see no reason why you would need to glue it down.

[SvenSvenson]

Too small to stretch really as it’s about A3+, plus I’d then loose the edges which I want to keep visible.

[Not your average framer]

If you are planning to float mount the painting on to foam board, but you don't want to stick the painting to the foam board, how are you expecting to fix the painting in place? Sorry, but how are you expecting the painting to stay put? If you don't want to stretch the painting and you don't want to stick it down, what exactly are you expecting to do instead?

[SvenSvenson]

Thanks Mark - that makes a lot of sense.

Yes I do know how to mount it other than stretch or glue it and I’m just amazed at myself for asking the question. I mean, obviously I know so my question was redundant, right?

[Not your average framer]

Maybe not! Sometimes, you ask the right question and and everything comes in to focus. It does not need to be rushed. Have you thought about framing the painting in something a little bit like a tray frame. It does not need to be a proper tray frame, plenty of us knock something up, rather than spend too much buying a specially produced tray frame moulding.

A bit of a gap around the sides of the painting might be just the look that you might be looking for. The painting is in modern and simple style, maybe something which is also modern and simple would look quite good with it. If you were to float mount the painting onto a piece of board and space it forward in the tray frame a bit, it would give it the kind of look you are looking for and just the right amount of impact too!

Take your time and play around with a few ideas and see what works for you.

[prospero]

I think maybe you are trying to hybridise various mounting methods. Canvas doesn't have the same properties as paper
and so hinging is not the best way - it will always be wavy. If you want to preserve the edges, which are really only
dribbles where the paint has bled under the tape it was masked off with, then sticking down is your only option.
BUT.... it may just be possible to mount it to bars even with a minimal margin. I've done narrower. The term
'stretching' is a bit misleading. You only need to get it flat with no flopping about, not under great tension. In fact
over-stretching a painting that has been painted on a loose canvas is not a good thing.

*I still think it would look better if you lose the dribbly edges, but you're the boss.