Hot Off the Press

The first time I actually panicked was about a month before the last show I was in at the Walter Anderson Museum. It was a show based in a very prestigious gallery here in town and every local well-known artist and collector would be perusing the event. 

Three weeks before the show and I was hard-up on finding a frame. I talked to some friends who then pointed me in the right direction...

There's an amazing framer here in town that can customize any painting, picture or portrait and he was able to give me a sleek frame at a great price. I, myself, was so impressed that I easily convinced my boyfriend to get stuff framed by this framer as well. His name is Nick and he's the mastermind over at Ivey's framing, downtown OS. 

If you are the kind of person who goes for cheap, quick, and readily available, well you are missing out on the brilliance that is custom framing. When I was in college, I would paint something and then tape it to a peice of black matte board that I bought at Walmart and stick it in a $9 poster frame. That was my version of custom framing. Making everything look like shit. And then I had this big prestigious show to do and I felt like a dunce, looking for a quick 12x12 plastic frame to put my prize possession in. It's like keeping diamond jewelry in a shoebox. Luckily Iveys framing could do the job, and for just a little more than the cost of a bland plastic frame from the run-of-the-mill craft supply shop. 

If you are still not convinced that custom framing is worth the expense, just take a look at the recent customized frames my boyfriend got for two half-decent sketches I put together last spring...

I have another gemsbok that I did years ago that has a red background so James decided on a blood-red matte to follow along with the theme. That framing is also one-of-a-kind. So pleased with the way this turned out. 

I know you can see my reflection but just look at that beautiful dark frame! It's not completely black. It's more of a deep deep wood stain with some slight red accents in the contours of the beveling. It is amazing. 

Framing is just something I must leave to the professionals. Yeah, I know a lot of artist can do this shit on their own, but hey, everyone is an artist in their own right and Nick at Iveys is the kind of artist I prefer to collaborate with in my works. There will be more to come, seeing as I just dropped off two more large paintings to him.