Floating Cameo .....

Framerguy

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Apr 12, 2001
Posts
7,261
Loc
Destin, Florida
I have used cameos many times in my framing and I usually place them in an oval cutout in the lower left corner or centered in the top mat with a foamcore spacer between the top mat and the bottom mats to allow enought room for the cameo to clear the glass.

I decided to do a different presentation on this particular print, Hunter's Haven, by Terry Redlin. The mallard cameo was so close to the size of the mallards in the image that I decided to place them in the image area. I also found out in doing this that a piece of Reflection Control placed behind a piece of regular framer's glass disappears completely. No double reflection, no glare off the inner sheet of glass, nothing. So I mounted the cameo on the RC glass behind the regular glass with a spacer between to allow room for the cameo and the rest of the framing is pretty much regular treatment.

I apologize for the quality of these photos, I am a framer, not a photographer. But they should give a fair idea of what was done to create the image illusion.

Here is the framed print:

hunters-haven-full-frame.jpg


Next is a closeup of the cameo area:

hhcloseup.jpg


A quarter shot from the front:

hhquarterfront.jpg


And finally, a quarter shot from the rear:

hhquarterrear.jpg


This was a real eye catcher as customers would casually look at the framing and, as they turned to walk away, noticed something out of the ordinary and really got close to it and just stared!! The dead giveaway is the shadow cast by the cameo onto the surface of the print.

The most asked question was, of course, "How'd you DO that?"

Framerguy
 
Pardon me if this is a dumb question, but how did you mount the cameo to the glass?
 
Dani,

Welcome to the Grumble!

First, in my opinion, the only "dumb" question is one that you have and DON'T bother to ask! So the fact that you asked is characteristic of wanting to learn about something. (some of my old teacher days coming out in me now.)

These very highly detailed cameos started out as hat pins and I simply clipped of the pin part in the back and applied a small dab of (all framers DO NOT READ THIS NEXT WORD!!) <font size=1>silicone adhesive</font size> and adhered it to that inner piece of RC glass. It was about half way between the surface of the print and the outside glass.

Disclaimer: During the making of this framing, no prints were willfully damaged or killed. (This is a reprint of one of Redlin's early prints that Hadley brought out in a small decorator size.)

Framerguy
 
Thanks for the info! Very nice piece! I love how the birds seem to float in the air. Very impressive!
 
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