Framing Options For A Collection

[jwthawkins]

Hi all,

I used to live in Sackville, New Brunswick, where I spent 5 years. During that time, I took an interest in the Sackville Waterfowl Park and shot a collection of four images - one from each season - from roughly the same viewpoint. I'd like to showcase them in my home as a series of large prints (13x19, matted to a size of 18x24). But, I'm having trouble with the mat and frame design. Do I go with white mats and the same frames? Or do I mix it up for each piece?

Of course, much of this is personal preference, I'd just like to see what the G's ideas are!

Cheers!

Jack.

 

[Bruce Papier]

I'd use the same frame for all of them for visual unity. I wouldn't go with anything too eye catching in itself. I wouldn't go stark white with the mat or mats. I'd lean toward something on the order of the color of the birch bark for the top mat and maybe a slightly darker blue-ish gray for the undermat if you want a second color.

 

[Rock knocker]

Nice triptych +1

 

[alacrity8]

I'm liking the colors you are (likely) accidentally showing.
Match the off white border in a mat, and the golden color of the table in the frame.
Definitely have them in matching frames.
If I hadn't seen the table, I would have suggested a weathered wood similar to the fence posts.

 

[jwthawkins]

Here's a smaller version of the same collection, 8x12 matted to 11x14. A local artist in Sackville did the framing for me at that time, as I wasn't doing my own back then.

 

[Shayla]

What color of wall would they hang on?

 

[jwthawkins]

A sort-of beige/yellowish.

 

[alacrity8]

Here's a smaller version of the same collection, 8x12 matted to 11x14. A local artist in Sackville did the framing for me at that time, as I wasn't doing my own back then.

View attachment 53833

Assuming the frames are 11x14, then the images are likely 8x10.
The proportion of mat seems too much.
The white is too bright for all of them except the snow scene.

 

[tedh]

I’d go with a grey mat and thin black frame. The small LJ Tribeca. And a v-groove.

 

[wpfay]

I too like the wood tone background for the frame in the original quartet. It looks like oiled and waxed cherry.
I agree that the mat colo(u)r is too bright. If you can get Rising Warm White rag mat, or Crescent 9500 there is just a touch of the warmth I see in the photos.
At some point you will need to free yourself from the restrictions of ready-made frame sizes.

 

[Ylva]

I would frame them same mat/same frame.

Maybe a lighter gray mat instead of white, if you can find the common gray in all of the photos. I would probably go with a weathered look gray frame, not too dark though.

 

[artfolio]

My suggestion would be to defnitely use the same frame and matt for all and, as others have said, forget about white and look for a soft grey like Crescent's Silver Gray or even Spice Ivory (my favourite go-to). For variation you could doubler matt them and tailor the colour of the inner matt to each piece.

I saw a Monet exhibition a few years ago of his haystacks oils painted in the seasonal colours. They all had the same profile frame but the colour washes were subtly different for each one and that was very effective.

 

[jwthawkins]

I would frame them same mat/same frame.

Maybe a lighter gray mat instead of white, if you can find the common gray in all of the photos. I would probably go with a weathered look gray frame, not too dark though.

What about something like this:

83843 | Omega Moulding

www.omegamoulding.com

My suggestion would be to defnitely use the same frame and matt for all and, as others have said, forget about white and look for a soft grey like Crescent's Silver Gray or even Spice Ivory (my favourite go-to). For variation you could doubler matt them and tailor the colour of the inner matt to each piece.

I saw a Monet exhibition a few years ago of his haystacks oils painted in the seasonal colours. They all had the same profile frame but the colour washes were subtly different for each one and that was very effective.

Do you have a suggestion for a comparable Peterboro matboard to Crescent's two mentioned above? I've just looked at it's about 3X the price.

 

[Ylva]

That moulding might work very well. Look at your Peterboro mats, they do have a variety of grays that might work (hard to tell just from a screen)

You might try and see if it all still works well when choosing a different matboard for each photo. All in the same tone value, not too dark, not too light.

 

[alacrity8]

My suggestion would be to defnitely use the same frame and matt for all and, as others have said, forget about white and look for a soft grey like Crescent's Silver Gray or even Spice Ivory (my favourite go-to). For variation you could doubler matt them and tailor the colour of the inner matt to each piece.

I saw a Monet exhibition a few years ago of his haystacks oils painted in the seasonal colours. They all had the same profile frame but the colour washes were subtly different for each one and that was very effective.

Which Spice Ivory do you refer to?
Crescent's website only lists the Rag Mat 1603, and it is listed as discontinued.
Omega's website (also LJ's website) lists 1028, srm1028, 61028, as well as oversize versions.
This has me very confused.

[Apparently C9510 Froth is the same color matboard in the Select line]

 

[jwthawkins]

That moulding might work very well. Look at your Peterboro mats, they do have a variety of grays that might work (hard to tell just from a screen)

You might try and see if it all still works well when choosing a different matboard for each photo. All in the same tone value, not too dark, not too light.

What do you think of double-matting, with the under-mat being of a similar colour to a dominant colour in the image?

 

[Ylva]

That could work well. But it might also be okay to use different mats for each image. Expressing the season of that image.

 

[Shayla]

What about something like this:

83843 | Omega Moulding

www.omegamoulding.com

Do you have a suggestion for a comparable Peterboro matboard to Crescent's two mentioned above? I've just looked at it's about 3X the price.

If framing to hang in separate spaces, this could work on one.
If hanging together, four of this frame might distract from the images.

 

[artfolio]

Which Spice Ivory do you refer to?
Crescent's website only lists the Rag Mat 1603, and it is listed as discontinued.
Omega's website (also LJ's website) lists 1028, srm1028, 61028, as well as oversize versions.
This has me very confused.

[Apparently C9510 Froth is the same color matboard in the Select line]

Pardon me - I have been retired from framing for a while now. 1603 Spice ivory was one of my favourite boards but Bainbridge had a very similar one whose name escapes me. I found the flannel textures a bit easier to handle and store offcuts and fallouts than the plain whites and creams.

 

[Rick Granick]

Yes. I frequently use the flannel mats as my top mats, because I like the way they cut the starkness, and they give a little softer feel, similar to a fabric mat but crisper.
Rick