Mastering Mounting
by
Chris A Paschke, CPF GCF
Picture Framing
Magazine, EQUIPMENT ISSUE, April 2011
"Greening The Desert"
In
this era of recycling and using renewable resources being green is on the
forefront of everyone's mind. I recently
encountered a client with a hobby that embraces cast aside materials by
redefining them into usable items. During
the summer of 2010 Greg Loskorn came in with an unusual request. He had six 16x20" photos of trains that he
needed framed for the special art show at the opening of the Tehachapi Railroad
Museum. He wanted them mounted, matted,
glazed and fitted…but he would be supplying the frames for me. Though this is not an unheard of request, little
did I realize what he really meant by supplying the frames. Greg is a fine art photographer who has a
passion for the high desert, railroad, and anything to do with airplanes. Though he has been photographing the
surrounding terrain and local attractions for a long time he had never exhibited
his images in a formal gallery.
Greg
owns Milepost Imaging, Tehachapi CA and is an avid hiker who also ventures out
into the Mojave Desert for hours following old railroad tracks always on the
search for unusual and unexpected photographs.
On one such trip he encountered a series of buried and deteriorating old
wood boards that may have once been used as a barrier fence to help prevent
excesses of desert sand from building up around and over the railroad
tracks. Most of these planks are
cracked, warped, rotten and very weather worn, totally unusable for much of
anything. But they needed a home, so
while harvesting these broken old boards it triggered the idea they would make
the perfect frame for his railroad and desert images. After cleaning the wood and finding the
straightest planks, he began searching for the perfect framer to teach him what
to do next.
Designing For Unity
On his
first visit, Greg brought in his photos and a small 6" piece of scrap wood
as a sample of color and texture. He was
soon to launch a new website, cards, prints and fine high end photos, so we
needed to design a layout that would be flexible in color and style while
creating design continuity and visual unity between current and future
images.
The
frames would be a weathered green-gray, though some planks were slightly more
neutral brown. Because of the texture of
the landscape in his images we selected 4-ply suede board to be used as the top
mat. The inner liner mat would be a
solid core museum rag or conservation board in a color that helped draw the eye
into the photo. A palette of earthy
neutral suedes were selected with Bainbridge Mist and Dusk being the first two
chosen. Artcare Mist Suede #4196 was the
perfect pale gray-green color to make the transition from sand fence to each of
the B&W photos (photo 1). Dusk Suede #4195 was perfect to match the
texture and colors of the sandy earth beneath the tracks and in the engine of
the color images (photo 2). Brushed Pewter and Antiqued Copper
Precious Metal paper was selected to wrap 3/16" foam bevels as a visual
spacer between the top and bottom mats and all six photos used Bainbridge Black Shadow #8669
as the liner (photo 3). Though the wrap may seem incongruous to the
earthy barnwood nature of the photos it really helped tie all the elements
together.
photo 1
(L to R) Rag Mat Sable Brown
1184 ; AlphaRag Black Shadow 8669;
AlphaRag Colonial Blue 8651;
Degas Blue Linen 4026; Artcare Shadow Suede 4197;
Artcare Mist Suede 4196;
Crescent Twig Suede 5639; Artcare Fango Suede 4206;
Artcare Dusk Suede 4195.
photo 2
Mist Suede was used on B&W
images while
Dusk was perfect for the color
ones
photo 3
Sand fence frame accented with Brushed Pewter and Copper Gold Precious
Metal paper wrapped 3/16" foam bevels as visual spacer between the top and
bottom mats
Frame Criteria
The
original sand fence planks average 4" wide and since Greg loves the
fractures, holes and pits in the wood he wanted to keep as much of the original
board as possible. He planes the boards
to smooth and level them for sizing, then cuts the rabbet on a table saw. They are then mitered to length and joined,
but keeping with the rustic nature he does not fill corners nor holes or
discolorations of the wood…oh yes and there shall be splinters while
framing.
Because
of the wide nature of the frames we either had to increase the mat borders to
5" or narrow them down to allow for a contrast between the mats and the
frame. We opted for 3" borders for
the liner mat and 2-1/4" for the suede top mat, making the outside
dimensions 22x26" plus 1/8" allowance. The wrapped bevel uses color to draw the eye
from the outer frame into the color and metallic of the engines helping
integrate and unify the design. Keeping
the mats narrower also allows the frame and photo to remain the dominant
elements. Since the frames were being
built to my specifications of 22-1/8"x26-1/8" I was able to mount the
photos, cut the mats, and assemble the package in preparation for the
frames. The glass was not cut until the
frames arrived to verify size for final fitting.
Mounting and Matting
All of
these photos have been professionally printed by a high end lab on matte finish
Endura photo paper. Since control of
orange peel was a primary concern they were all mounted to 3/16" Bienfang
Step 150, a 150F degree low temperature, 30 second short duration,
heat-activated board with a smooth surface that is well suited to
photographs. On B&W and dark photos
such as these it is very important to prevent anything from being trapped
beneath or imprinting into the mounting.
All release materials were cleaned and wiped down and the mechanical
press was wiped and checked for residue.
Both the mount board and the back of each individual photo needed
to be wiped down with a clean microfiber rag to remove all particles and debris
just prior to tacking for mounting (photo
4). Preparing all the photos at the
same time may allow for new paper dust to accumulate where not wanted.
photo 4
Microfiber cloths are perfect
for
removing dirt and dust prior
to mounting photos.
Wipe back of image AND mount
board.
Each
mount board was cut to exact exterior dimension and placement was established
by lining on a manual mat cutter. Three inch margins
were lined and the photo was cleaned and centered, tacked, then mounted. This same process and steps are used for each photo. Though it may not be a time effective mass
production method it best controls maintaining clean lint free mounting for
photos. Once the matting package is
complete all layers are fused and book hinged to the 3/16" mount
board—photo attached--for glazing and final fitting once the frames
arrive. UV Conservation Clear glass was
recommended for these first photos, but since then he has embraced museum glass
and there has been no turning back.
Other Desert Debris
The
next batch of recycled wood and new frames also came from the desert. Just as the space race has left debris
orbiting the earth and on the moon, it appears that progress has also left
telephone poles out in the desert to slowly rot away over time. A few months ago while on another wood finding
mission Loskorn discovered piles of discarded telephone poles and cross arms
that had been pulled up and replaced with high tech, more stable metal
framework. Though the new towers may be
better for withstanding the rigors of weather extremes, the old poles—having
been creosote treated to resist rotting—may take generations to degrade, if at
all.
In a
flash of innovation he realized though the poles could not be used as moulding,
but the cross arms might be perfect. Rich dark rustic recycled frames are cut from
alternate sides of the heavy 4-1/2" beams leaving the inner few inches for
smaller frame potential. The latest
collaboration is an elongated 12x24" B&W Four Island Lake framed to 18x30" (photo 5). Shadow Suede 4197
and black rag were used with no wrapped bevel for this one though a 3/16"
spacer was placed between the mats. The
grays were perfect, the suede picked up the feeling of the fog in the hills and
the spacer added dimension.
photo 5
Frames show drilled holes and
sun fading of cross arms
that were harvested from the
desert and cut into frames.
Photo and frame shown courtesy of Greg Loskorn,
Milestone Imaging.com
Scraps and Dumpster Diving
Loskorn
Has taken most everything I have taught him to heart and has the makings of a
real framer as he never throws anything away.
Even his frame scraps get recycled.
The inner section of the telephone beams are being cut and built into small 1" wide 7x9" frames and
he is buying all the suede blanks to cut into 1-1/4" 7x9 single mats to
fit inside to fit his 5x7" photos (photo
6). These are then able to be priced
very affordably for wannabe collectors that can need to begin small (photo 7).
photo 6
Narrower inner wood scraps and
suede fallouts are used to cut
and build
smaller more economical framed
photos.
photo 7
Photos are framed with sand fence,
telephone beams and studio timbers.
He is
a sound engineer for Sony Pictures and in his ongoing quest for wood he has
also collected old MGM studio timbers that had been cast off and awaiting him
in a dumpster. Again the rustic nature
and color of this wood cried frame to him and he recently completed framing two
of my prints with it (photo 8).
photo 8
A Paschke print Joshua Tree double matted
with 3" wide studio
timber frame.
photo 9
Salvaged MGM studio timbers (T) and sand fence (B)
trimmed, planed, sanded and mitered into specialty frames by
photographer Loskorn.
In
this era of recycling and trying to best use our renewable resources, isn't it
lovely to find someone who is willing to spend hours harvesting buried wood,
telephone pole remnants (photo 9) and
studio timbers as a recyclable resource which in turn helps keep the desert
healthy and "green"…or brown as the case may be. Greg has become a loyal
customer and friend and to date we have collaborated on over twenty
projects…plus I have helped him launch his open edition economy line of images
which he frames himself…though he'll always need me for mounting his photos.
Note: All featured photos are
© Greg Loskorn and shown courtesy of Milepost Imaging. His photos, cards and calendars may be viewed
and purchased on his website http://www.milepostimaging.com or at Crossroads
Gallery, Tehachapi CA.
END
copyright © Chris A. Paschke, 2011.
Additional information on all types of mounting is found in
The Mounting and Laminating Handbook, Second Edition, 2002, and
The Mounting And Laminating Handbook, Third Edition, 2008.
Creative Mounting, Wrapping, And Laminating, 2000 will teach
you everything you need to know
about getting the most from your dry mount equipment and materials as
an innovative frame designer.
All books are available from Designs Ink Publishing through this
website.
Chris A Paschke, CPF GCF
Designs Ink
Designs Ink Publishing
785 Tucker Road, Suite G-183
Tehachapi, CA 93561
661.821.2188
info@designsinkart.com