Matting and Framing

Matting and now framing have pretty much defined the past few days around here. 15 prints in all.  Matting was really frustrating at the start as I worked with some new, harder mat board. I was ready to go shopping for new mat cutting equipment. Then, I modified the way I was holding the cutting tool and it made all the difference in the world. Funny. After years of holding the tool in a certain way I discover that moving one of my fingers from here to just slightly over there, and the consistency of my cuts improves.

Today, I started with a stack of stems, 60 in all, that I ripped, planed, and cut to length yesterday. Today, working at the table saw with a dado blade, channels were dug out of each stem. By the end of the day, all 15 frames were assembled. Tomorrow they’ll be sanded and, if all goes well, at least some will have a first layer of color added to the surface.