Sometimes you just have to vent. Just last week I blogged about entering a piece in a show, it’s a piece I’ve shown before, and it was rejected due the frame being “too distracting”. I’ve been puzzelled by this comment ever since. This piece is a photo encaustic piece that’s 11″ x 14″ and is on a wood cradle that’s 1 1/4″ ’s deep. To give it some size I placed the entire cradle on top of a flat picture frame moulding leaving approximately 2″ of this frame showing which also gives some dimension.
Just for the record I do consider myself a “frame snob” since I’ve been picture framing for over 25 years. I figure after that length of time I’ve earned the title! I’ve seen so many dredful frames that artists will use either because one is required and it’s all they had or could afford at the time or they just don’t know any better. So needless to say I was a little hurt by “framing” causing a piece to be rejected.
Encaustic work can’t be framed like a canvas, the lip of the frame can’t touch the wax so creativity has to come into play. After I explained the objective of my frame and that in the framing industry it was becoming a trend to frame this way my piece then was accepted into the show. Of course I didn’t win any awards for it but at least I got my point across.
I completely understand the need for a frame that compliments and doesn’t distract from the art, but I also know how difficult it is to get a nice professional looking frame on an artist’s budget. I’m very lucky that I’m able to do my own framing but it’s still tough to purchase the materials!
