DIY Framing

Mass produced frames almost never fit the size specifications for my art works. One of the dimensions is bound to be off, or the combination of the two "doesn't exist"or "isn't sold here and you aren't going to find it anywhere either". I discovered these responses when I was searching for a cheep 20" by 30" frame. Sounds simple, yes?

No. At least not at first. I called Michaels Craft Store and talked to their framing experts. I talked to the Craft Warehouse people, and I also called up Aaron Brothers Framing and Art supplies.

Michaels told me that no one makes that size of frame anymore, it's just too uncommon. I could purchase metal pieces of that size and construct a frame myself, or I could have them make a frame. Same response from the Craft people. The nice lady I spoke to at Aaron Brothers told me that yes, they did have that size. They use that size for the BSU posters and she was going to check if they had them in stock and call me back in five minutes with a price... She never called me back.

I also tried to get a local framer, that also happens to be a family acquaintance, to make me frame. But she had to go out of town for three weeks.

So I never did go out and buy myself a cheep 20" by 30" frame for the Western Idaho Fair.




Months later, this week in fact, I went to Walmart looking for something that I can't recall at this moment, and what do I find? 20" by 30" frames. A lot of them. So they don't make these anymore, eh? Lies lies and more lies.

Today I went to Michaels, and while I didn't find the cheepy variety I did find a 20" by 30" frame.

Many anathemas come to mind, but for the sake of some of my readers I won't use them here. I guess the moral of the story is that people who "know what their talking about" might actually not have a bloody clue. And because I hate having to rely on other people to tell me if they have something (and they end up being wrong and/or not having what I believe they should have because they are a craft store), or to make me something (for example: going to a professional framer for each work of art I create) I've decided to turn my back on them and Do It Myself.

So now I have a new toy. It is called a Fitting Tool, and it's used when you make a frame. It puts in these nice little flexible inserts into the wood to keep the art in place snuggly in the frame. I also have my father and his wood shop tools available. And I have wood and black paint for that wood. With a few other things you can put them all together and you will have a framed work of art that didn't cost you $50 + each.


Plus the frame now counts as a work of art itself, since it's hand-made with love mixed with a wee bit of frustration and a pinch rage.

The Black Board Share

People are often surprised when they witness me working on one of my art pieces. And because most of you haven't seen this I shall explain why this is even relevant.



I draw on BLACK. Yes, you did read that correctly, black. Not your typical white drawing paper, cotton canvas, or even paper for that matter. I work on black matte-board.

A stiff board is excellent for drawing on as I usually draw on a soft surface... Like my bed, or the floor. If I tried that with paper, well... It would end up just being a real mess, and nobody wants that, nor would anyone wish to purchase it. The boards are also perfect for viewing when they are unframed as you can sit them up and lean them against anything without having to pin, tape, or hold them up yourself.

Matte-boards come in different colors. The most common being white, grey, and black. So why wouldn't I just use a white board for my ground color like any other sane person? Well, other than the obvious response (and some of you would be correct) I would have to answer that I the intensity and depth of the color that results from drawing on black rather than white is huge. It may just be the darkness inside me laying claim to my artistic preferences but there is a noticeable difference in the final product when completed on a black background.

Some may argue that developing color from light to dark is much easier than going from dark to light and that it is the standard and/or most correct way to create an artwork. I would say that is true when working with watercolor. With graphite pencils you can use an eraser, with acrylic, oil, and other paints you can wait till the first layer of paint dries and just paint right over the top with a new color with little or no problem, with textiles you can employ the use of bleaching. With color pencil, as long as you don't overuse the surface of what you're drawing on you can generally add more, darker and lighter, colors and shades.

When I begin one of my drawings or collages I start by using the white pencil. It is a light layer and when you've worked with color pencils you know that a light layer means plenty of little spaces between the color you just added and the surface you are drawing on.

Close up of the white layer.

After that initial layer where I define shapes I add the color. This is the fun part because this is when the subject gains debth and defines its essence. One thing that you must remember when using color is that the first color you see, for example when you look at grass you see green, is generally not what is there. Don't misunderstand, there is green in the leaves, but there is also brown, yellow, blue, grey, white, and yes, sometimes even red shades. There is shadow and light and there is a depth to the colors in things that a lot of people aren't trained to see.

Close up of a finished portion of the drawing.

Drawing showing the black board. This is the Iris ColorBlind Drawing.

So... What color is your canvas?

To Fracture, or not to Fracture?

My collages are like Ogres. In that they are like onions, no they don't smell or make you cry, although that is an intriguing idea...

Layers! Like Ogres, my collages have layers.



There are three main layers to speak of within each of my Fractured Pieces. The Fracture, The Drawing, and The Collaging. Each layer then holds its own sub-layer or two. Those layers are all incredibly important to not only the Concept of the work, but also function to pull together the composition into a unified whole.

In my previous post (and corresponding photo album) I mentioned that I have began to explore Colorblindness. This brings up an interesting issue, which seems to be somewhat dependent upon the composition of the piece.

Do I use my fracturing technique on something like this? It almost seems to already possess fractures, just of a different sort. Would fractures add to the work or confuse the viewer?

Perhaps I could cover the entire area with swirly fractures like in my other organic (flower) collages. Perhaps I could only use the fracturing in the areas not in the colorblind windows, or in a reverse fashion where the windows are fractured but everything outside of them are normal... But that could possibly distract/take away from the entire colorblindness concept that I'm attempting to convey.

Or I could use the windows to signify the fractures and magnify the areas that are within. This could quite possibly give a very interesting feel to the piece as it would bring a subtle awareness of the viewer that these rectangles are more than just some funky coloring, that there might be something more going on. That would encourage those that normally don't read about the art or the concept to, maybe, actually, pay closer attention and investigate what's going on.

That could be the most important part of this work, getting people to actually read about colorblindness and to gain a glimpse of what it would be like if they too were born with eyes that saw the world in such a different way.

Windows into another world.

Colorblindness Simulations

Earlier in my experimentations of collage and techniques I was also studying web design.

One of the issues that I feel is relevant for web designers is accessibility and under this topic is color blindness. If a viewer/user of a website has a form of colorblindness there is the potential that the wonderful/beautiful/masterpiece of a design that you took so long and painstakingly to design is rendered unusable and/or visually unappealing. Text might merge with background, objects in photos become indistinguishable, links are unrecognizable, and so on...

In an effort to understand and possibly adapt for this I found a website called Vischeck (http://www.vischeck.com/) which will take any website or photo and simulates what three different versions of colorblindness looks like to the affected person. It does have some issues with css coding but it is useful regardless. They also offer a plug-in for Photoshop that you can use offline on your own compy.

What does this have to do with my art? Well, if you've looked at my artist galleries you would have noticed a set of Lilies that explore this concept. The original piece is based off of a StarGazer lilly that grew in my own garden. I then used the colorblindness filter on it, and behold, the lily in the eyes of others that see the world in a much different way than most.

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StarGazer - Colorblindness Study

Top left is the normal coloring

Top right is Protanope color blindness (green-yellow-red & loss of brightness, dark reds can be mistaken for black or grey)

Bottom left is Deuteranope color blindness (green-yellow-red w/out abnormal dimming, & sometimes dark greens can be mistaken for black or grey, also blues are not quite as deep)

Bottom right is Tritanope color blindness (blue-yellow)

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When I showed my work in Moscow during my solo show it was suggested to me that I do more work in the area of colorblindness. As I'm sure you've noticed, or will shortly, I have added a photo album here on Facebook titled, Color Blindness Simulations. In this album you'll find a set of my own photos that I ran through the plug-in/filter. There is also a short explanation of the three different colorblindnesses simulated. This is an effort to decide what subject to work on for my next collage which will, shocking I know, deal with colorblindness.

Most likely it will be split into four separate pieces. The subject may or may not be sliced into fourths or used in the same manner as the Lily piece. I'm leaning towards it being sliced as I haven't created a piece like that before and it would give my work a wee bit more diversity.

Go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048625&id=40306481&l=fb581 for the Simulations Album.

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So why would I want to create a work of art that has anything to do with color
blindness?

As I wrote above about the lily, the concept of most of my recent work is about expressing the differences in the way different people see the world, how we take our vision for granted, and how most are so wrapped up in their own lives and just don't see, or take the time to see, the beauty and essence of the everyday natural, and even man-made, world that surrounds us.

Just wait till I decide to explore not just color blindness, but *just* blindness.