Framing paper tole art
It's the final touch in the creative process
15 hours.
That’s how long Maggie has spent so far on her most recent work, The Painter (see below). She figures it will take another hour or two to complete, and then she’ll frame it.
Like any piece of art, choosing the right frame to complement it can be an art unto itself. Maggie definitely has an eye for that, and she shared a few tips with me.
“The colour should blend in with the art,” she says at the outset.
She prefers wooden frames for paper tole pictures that have “an antique look” — and in Maggie’s case, that applies to most of her works.
She shies away from shadow box frames — which are essentially enclosed glass-fronted boxes.
“I like regular frames because you get a better view of the work, and it stands out more,” she says.
And some details of her works can extend over the borders of the frame — as you can see in the picture below.
As you may know, picture frames are measured using the inside dimensions — not the outside dimensions.
Maggie points out that it is very important to remember that the border — about one-quarter of an inch — of the artwork will be tucked behind the rim or flange of the inner part of the frame.
“Try not to build your picture to the edges of the board it’s pasted on,” she says. “Keep about one-quarter of an inch of white space on all sides.”
Maggie spends $15 to $25 per frame and buys them at outlets like Michaels or online through Amazon.
Most of her pieces are hung on the walls, but she chose a tabletop frame for her Boulangerie piece (see top picture).
The frame really makes the piece, I think. And she found the perfect spot in the house to display it.