The Framers Forum

Hello Mark. Up until now I've been getting my paintings framed by a local framer but what I want to do is be able to make and finish my own frames. Recently I've had some unfinished frames made for me and I'm going to learn how to hand finish them myself. After that I hope to start making my own frames and finish them my self. At some point in the future I'd like to have the skill to create those stacked frames.
I'm sure it'll be a long process but I'm good with my hands and confident I can create at least something I'll be happy with.

Hope that answers your questions

Matt

Hello Mark. Up until now I've been getting my paintings framed by a local framer but what I want to do is be able to make and finish my own frames. Recently I've had some unfinished frames made for me and I'm going to learn how to hand finish them myself. After that I hope to start making my own frames and finish them my self. At some point in the future I'd like to have the skill to create those stacked frames.
I'm sure it'll be a long process but I'm good with my hands and confident I can create at least something I'll be happy with.

Hope that answers your questions

Matt

Hi Matt,

Yes, that answers the questions. Do you have somewhere for you to set up a workshop to make these frames? The available space may be a determining factor in how much space you will have for tools, equipment and materials. The most basic set up will require less expenditure, but will make producing frames more time consuming. Better equipment will require more expenditure, but will enable greater speed when producing frames, so you need to know where you are intending to go with this and it's not necessarily an easy question to answer.

I am thinking that part of your intention is with regard to saving money by making and hand finishing your own frames. Have you looked into if making your own frames is going to save you enough money to make this meaningful for you to do this and consider it to be worthwhile? Will you earn as much money doing your own framing as you would by using the same time painting your paintings and letting someone else make the frames for you.

I suspect you may decide to not completely go down the most basic equipment route and reduce the time spent framing and have a better balance using your time to do everything else. Perhaps you need to have some professional training, to get a better idea what is involved, before making the big decisions.

Hello Mark (I hope I have your name right)

Yes, I do have somewhere I can set up a studio. It's a bit on the small side, needs some repair but is one of the reasons I bought this house last year.
Having a workspace in the garden really appeals.



With regards to saving money vs painting time, I'd like to save money in the long run (I hope I will) but more importantly, I'd like to be able to have more artistic control over how my paintings are presented. I love how great frames make a painting look, I suppose I'd just like to be more involved in that side of things.

Anyway, I have start small and work up to it.

Regards

Matt

Love the roof garden Matt.

Hello Prospero and thanks! Unfortunately the weight of the soil is making the roof collapse so it's going to have to go. Bit of a shame really.

Matt

'Loving the nifty shed. Your own ideas and that of NYFA are going to be the best going foward. If you can persuade your framer to supply you with the unfinished frames then that will save you a lot of bother and unnecessary time. Cutting and joining up a frame is quick and straight forward if you have all the equipment but a bit of a faff if it's only a saw and hammer and nails. Of course you can do it yourself but remember the person who buys your framed art is hardly going to marvel at the way you've joined up the mitres. What they will hope for from the frame is that it compliments the art-work and hangs comfortably in their room.
Your art is very beautiful and as you obviously know your way around a full palette of pigments, then creating your own handfinishes will be much more rewarding. As you appreciate from the effort that goes into painting, there really isn't any short cut to creating an authentic and quality finish for your frames. So it's double the work then ...

There's a lot of sense in what Vintage frames says. Looking at your profile, I would say that you are already a very busy man and as it is your painting that your customers come to you for, the more time available for you to paint your amazing paintings the moreyou will have to offer to you customers. I understand the urge you have to make the frames yourself and have no doubt that you can easily accomplish making frames of the same high standard, but you only have so many hours in a day and it's a question of being sure of your priorities.

If you really want to go down the route of making your own frames, then I would suggest that it makes sense to get yourself proper equipment to at least make efficient and effective use of your time, to avoid reducing the time that you have available to paint your paintings. The other possibility would be to make some of your frames yourself and to get some made by your framer as well. That way you will get the enjoyment of making frames, but you can limit the effort involved in making frames to a level that you are going to be comfortable to do.

Essentially that gives you the best of both worlds, if that appeals to you. Whatever you choose, I think that you have got what it takes to produce really first rate work and wish you success, whichever way you decide to go with this.

Thanks for your messages NYAF and VF, I really appreciate your advice.
I picked up some unfinished frames just today so I'm going to experiment with those and see how I get on. I know how I want them to look, just not sure how I'm going to achieve it yet. More research and question asking to come I'm sure.

I think having some frames made for me and creating my own frames for the more special paintings could be the way to go, at least to begin with.
As I said in my original post, I'm a part time tattooist, 3 days a week just now. I will be winding that down in the future so that will free up a lot of time that I can use for other things such as framing.

Matt

Don't feel that you have to do things in any particular way, but try and allow some things to come together in a way that feels natural to you and at your own pace. Things happened over a period of time for me and as I got used to using the various bits of equipment and materials, as and when they came my way, my mindset for taking the next step, or the next decision was also developing so that I was ready and knew what I needed to to do when the time came.

I don't know about you, but I haven't always found that everything I thought was a good idea, turned out to be as smart as I as first thought it to be. You probably would be surprised how much stock that I bought in the early days, still remains in stock and unused. As time goes by you will get an instinct for what makes sense. You won't necessarily need to work this up, it's just something that comes quite naturally. No two businesses are particularly likely to be the same, so let some of it develop as you get to find what works best. Enjoy!