Snakes, lizards, frogs...

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Z David

Z David

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Mar 8, 2010
Posts
944
Loc
Texas
Had a customer come in yesterday looking to have her sons college diploma framed. She started looking at my frames and after seeing at the Dennis Mathewson line she decided that it would be great to frame the diploma suitable for a herpetologist. Herpetology is the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and gymnophiona) and reptiles (including snakes, lizards, amphisbaenids, turtles, terrapins, tortoises, crocodilians, and the tuataras). A couple of the DM frames has ocean creatures, but they're quite limited on reptiles or amphibians.

Anyhow, does anyone know of a moulding out there ideally suited for framing a herpetologists diploma... maybe even a snake (or faux snake) skin frame, or one with leaping frogs, or sun lounging lizards?
At the same time I don't think she wants a frame that looks too cheesy!

I welcome leads.

Thank you!



Z
 
I remembered an old thread on the picture frame design forum that I saw not too long after I joined the Grumble back in 2006. Terry Hart had made a frame to look like alligator skin using cheese cloth. I found the thread, but unfortunately the pictures no longer show up. The frame was awesome. Perhaps Terry may still have the photos and could re-post them for you.

http://www.thegrumble.com/showthread.php?7094-Radigator-frame&highlight=cheese+cloth

Also, the moulding that Shane used on his fishing tackle shadowbox might work - it looks scale-y:

http://www.thegrumble.com/showthread.php?69388-Something-fishy-around-here!
 
There was a thread posted a while back from a guy making snakeskin covered frames. They're easy enough to do and finding snake skins ready to use is as simple as a Google search. It really depends on the budget. Fuax gator hide is available, as are faux snake skin materials.
 
Another idea would be to use a frame with an added carving or sculptural element.
By keeping the element small and sleek in design, as well as close or matching in
color to the frame, you could keep it elegant, thus avoiding the dreaded cheese
factor.

This frame doesn't look like much here, but it's what came to mind when thinking
of this thread. Has a sort of roughened matte black finish.

http://www.larsonjuhl.com/p-2611-338120.aspx?itemid=5492&CatId=367

Another possibility would be along the idea of those marbled borders some mats
have, with french mat lines on either side. You could have a space like that on
the outer mat with a highly stylized pattern, drawn with a narrow line, that has
either one or a few different creature shapes in repetition. This could easily be
overdone, but it could also look good if it was a simple shape, and if the colors
either almost match the mat or are a clean neutral like black.

This lizard image still has more presence than I'm imagining, but it gives the idea.

a-lizard-art-cp2.gif
 
This snake is a pop art explosion compared to what you want to end up with,
but the shape of it is simple and clean. I've been doing image searches
for things like 'stylized lizard' and 'snake line drawing', along with looking
at At Nouveau and Asian jewelry of same. It would be cool to find a simple,
sleek carved piece, in one color close to that of the frame, and attach it to
the outside.

16957601-snake-psychedelic-art-design.jpg


Or a drawer pull might work:

$(KGrHqZHJDQE+(JRe(g3BQZ8gCWIUw~~60_35.JPG


http://us.123rf.com/450wm/bluedarka...016/16957601-snake-psychedelic-art-design.jpg


martin-pierce-lizard-drawer-pull.jpg


Ohmigosh....I have a new crush. That itty bitty picture is from a wonderful site.
Check it out: http://www.martinpierce.com/#p=lizard&b=7

Those are along the lines that I'm thinking. It could look great to have a
simple, clean piece in subtle colors on the frame.
 
But that last one costs between $109-130 dollars.

Anyway, it's an idea.
 
If he ever gets another degree in entomology....

Dragonfly.jpg


(that's another Martin Pierce design)

or one in teuthology....


p_neptune1-1.jpg
 
Some great ideas folks!!!
I hadn't even thought of putting some small figure on a frame... that may be the way to go!
I also sent an email to that fellow in Arizona that had a posting a couple of years ago regarding making and selling snake skill frames.
I'm still open to any other ideas.

But thus far... thank you very much!




Z
 
If you could get a snake long enough you could miter it. Might be tricky milling a rabbet......:party:

Hmmmm..... maybe I have been doing this too long. :icon9:


Seriously though, sometimes you can be too literal with framing and the results are not errrrrr........ good. Saw a pic in a framing book once of a rifle that someone had mitered into a frame. It looked totally preposterous.
 
Ylva said:
that is a great website!!!!! I love this one too:

View attachment 18494

Would be fantastic somewhere on the frame!
Click to expand...
Easy! Just make a cast of a sculpted critter. I have a wonderful silicone mold of an actual thumbnail sized treefrog. I make casts from it,cute! I cast ornaments for frames all the time. L
 
Another possibility would be to have the degree matted in it's own frame,
and to have the critter attached to the wall with a smaller blank of the same
frame around it.

Today, at work I looked at these:

853045-3-1024x574.jpg


853069-3-1024x577.jpg


Both from Roma's Arbor collection, which also has a profile that's flat-topped,
about an inch wide and an inch deep. The black is interesting, because it's a
way to get a rustic feel, but keep the color neutral, so the grain doesn't take
up too much visual real-estate. Tried it with a couple fillets, thinking of having
one glued in as a liner. It's not really wide enough for a critter to be attached
to it, though, and the wide ones in the line would dwarf the certificate.
 
! Just Easymake a cast of a sculpted critter. I have a wonderful silicone mold of an actual thumbnail sized treefrog. I make casts from it,cute! I cast ornaments for frames all the time. L
Click to expand...

That sounds like a nice idea, but I'm not confident in my ability to sculpt little reptiles. But then the additional labor time involved in making the molds, and then the critters and then painting them may be a bit much for me.
Is there a source out there for readymade - ready to use thumbnail size reptiles?



Z
 
This is 2 1/4", but very nice.

41Green%20Fr.jpg


Says out of stock, but don't know if that means sold out or just making more.

You could also try looking at pins on eBay. They tend to cost less, and
could probably be colored to suit the frame design.



$T2eC16Z,!yUE9s6NG)w(BRwQpcd(6g~~60_57.JPG


http://www.ebay.com/itm/lizard-sterling-silver-pin-antique-7-87-grams-vintage-/290953233785


I'm keeping in mind that you don't want anything cutesy or too whimsical.
Hopefully, these don't fall into that category for you.

Or charms? They're small, although you'd have to get the ring thing cut off.

Sterling-Silver-Large-Antiqued-Finish-Gecko-Charm-ch-fad-cfaw.jpg

http://auntiestreasures.com/partially-3d-detailed-lizard-charm-p-6814.html

TSCF36A.jpg




http://www.thhomas.com/thomas-sabo-lizard-pendant-tsbpd202-p-457.html

But that last one is six inches long. More of what I was imagining, but definitely larger than a thumbnail.
 
Shayla, I had been thinking along the same lines.
I don't know what the customer will be willing to go with (and how much she's willing to spend), but y'all have given me some good ideas to present to her.
If her budget is restrictive I might suggest going with the Max Moulding frame Rick suggested, and propose doing reptile stamp figures on the top matboard.

I've yet to even try stamping a matboard... has anyone had success doing that?
I would think that too much matboard texture could be problematic.





Z
 
If not embellishing with one of those creatures, I would look more closely at the LJ petite that I posted. It has a scaly print, I have used it quite often for reptile prints and such and it comes in 6 (I think) different color toned soft metal look finishes. Love them!!!!
 
Thank you Ylva!
I didn't look at it closely when you first sent the link, and I don't have that line in my shop.
That gives me more options to present to the customer.



Z
 
About 65% of what I have on my walls is LJ... I just don't have the Petite line.
The downside is that I don't have LJ delivery!




Z
 
Most excellent VF! That's perfect. My customer hasn't pulled the trigger yet, so if/when she comes in again I will show her this! I really do expect her again.
I was beginning to think there was no reptilian frame out there.


Thank you!





Z
 
Yay! Fantastic. Gotta love the Grumble. :thumbsup:
 
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