Matting and Framing

I want to say more about the bicycle/photo journey that I took up the C&O Canal a few months ago but I need to press pause on all that for now other than to say that in October, I’m aiming to show 5 Canal prints for the “Engaging Light” exhibit at FRANK gallery in Chapel Hill. Some of those prints already exist. Others do not. Yikes!

But for several weeks now, I’ve been distracted from printing by more time-sensitive tasks. The first has been preparing a one-person exhibit that begins September 9 at the FRANK gallery in Chapel Hill. (Full disclosure: I’m a founding member of the collective.) I’m showing 14 framed gum prints of backyard flowers.

Elecampane

 I look forward to showing them.

To get to that point without too much disruption to the rest of my life, I started working on the show several weeks ago. First up was trimming prints down to size allowing me to float them inside the slightly larger mat window rather than having the mat lay over the print. I’ve never done that systematically. I guess I'm liking the look. Trimming added a good deal of time to the project.

The next step took place in my covered wood shop. That’s where I make finished frames out of rough-cut wood that I get from a local mill. Completed, the wood frame needs to be protected. I use tung oil. I think it does a good job but I use it because it's one of only a few wood treatment options that aren't synthetic and honestly, I like the name. 

I mix the oil with pigments chosen from the darkroom and brush it onto the frame with the specific intent of marrying print to frame. Sometimes one color coat does it, but other times not. Applying a second layer, or a third, imitates the gum process. Nice!

Magnolia

The last step is assembling all the parts into a glass framed print ready to hang on the wall. As of late last night, assembly of all 14 prints is complete!

On to the other recent diversion -- Sizing...