Framing For Castle Park 2025

Framing three paintings today for the Castle Park Open.

Framing is, assuming you don't need to make the frame:

1. Marking and cutting a spacer from mount board. Done by marking each inner edge while comparing with the frame, and using a craft knife to cut to exact size. Cutting and checking the fit, then marking the inner edge, depending on the rebate; 6mm is common, then cutting. Marking and cutting the backboard in a similar way to the spacer, then marking and cutting the glass. Marked in a similar way, using fine white-board or OHP marker. The glass should be wiped clean before scoring, I tend to wipe with meths. Then scoring, flip the glass over and press on the scored area to extend the crack along the length. At that point the glass will fall apart rather than anything as risky as a snap. Cutting acrylic glazing is best done with a craft knife, but I always hate that process.

2. Assembly of the artwork (frame, glass, spacer, painting, backboard). Bits of dust commonly get into the painting so the finished picture needs constant checking. White dust shows up worst so working on a black background works best. A piece of masking tape or some blu-tak is good for removing dust. A blower can work, combined with a vacuum cleaner. A ball of cling film is a good choice for acrylic glazing, it's sticky but far less so than tape.

3. Fitting it all together. If the painting fits in the recess you can use panel pins to hold it, or 'points' and a special point-insertion tool. I prefer 20mm panel pins as they are easier to remove in future and cause less damage to the frame. For paintings without a recess, those level with the frame, spring clips will hold it tight. At a pinch you could use mirror plates, bent to act in a similar way.

Then taping a dust seal around the edge (done first for when using spring clips). I apply tape sometimes, sometimes not. The tape can be messy and difficult to remove, so it depends on how permanent I consider the framing.

4. Labelling, all artwork should be clearly labelled. Drilling and fixing mirror plates. Drilling and fixing hangers or D-rings for the string.

5. Measuring and weighing; important if the painting is ever to be shipped and it hugely saves time to do this now.

6. Photographing the painting in frame and tidying that photo.

7. Wrapping and packing away.

Compose Yourself, Argus, First Cabinet Finalised, and More

Most of yesterday was spent preparing for the 'Compose Yourself' event. A great night, my first return to The Electric Picture House since my freezing Spiral Staircase performance in 2016. It's moved venue since.

9 musicians performed 3 original songs each: Mick Lomas with Chris Wood, David Fray; Dave Boothroyd; Electric guitarist Chris Wood with John Miller, David Fray, Phill Swindells (jazzy and bluesy these); Lennie Munday (who sang unaccompanied folk tales); Glyn Roberts with Chris Wood, John Miller and Phill Swindells; Mick Dick (Mike Drew) - with myself on keyboard and John Miller on vacuum cleaner (yes!) for one track; John Lindley and The Poachers (Chris Wood, David Fray, John Miller, Phill Swindells); myself; then John Miller with Chris Wood, David Fray, Phill Swindells to finish the night.

I performed 'More', 'The Parents in the Walls', and a piano version of 'Incomplete Version of the Writer', which had something of 'Candle in the Wind' about it in this form; but of course better I think - despite my love of that brilliant song! Now I think of it, I coincidentally mirrored Elton's dress sense with my glitter suit, its first outing. Each attendee paid £15 to be there, and a quick head count indicates that we raised over £500 for Médecins Sans Frontières.

There were many great songs and performances on the night. I always find it more inspirational, encouraging, to hear new music. Mike Drew sounded better than ever, and paid a nice tribute to John with a setting of one of his poems to music. The sound mixing and quality was exemplary from John Miller, as were his exacting performances.

Today, filed yesterday's event, and updated Argus to v1.60 with new features to enhance the track separation.

Then, work on the alcove cabinet. The four doors were papered as a solid mass, so that they would be seamless when closed. These were laid on the frame, and the outer hinges marked and fitted. Then the doors flipped and the inner Z-bend hinges marked and fitted, only then the wallpaper sliced with a sharp knife to reveal the finished doors.

They may need adjustment as the actual placement of the hinges will vary when the frame is locked in place. I have a plan for this if required.

Another event from yesterday was that Nastee Chapel sent me their track for Christmas Tails, which is now on pre-sale. The next event for me is the public album cover design day next Wednesday in Crewe Market Hall, 11am to 3pm. Several of the acts from last night will be there, plus I hope Nastee Chapel, Andy Stubbs, Mike Aitchison, and a few others.

Another thing was that my missing parcel turned up. Not only did the driver not try to deliver it here, he delivered it to a different address than the one he stated, and by coincidence, they had an identical front door and porch as the wrong address, so the delivery photo was no help. A community group on Facebook came to the rescue and connected me with the actual recipient.

Today, I heard that my three paintings have been accepted into the Castle Park Open Exhibition, which opens next month. None are framed, so I have a week to frame them. The exhibition opens on Nov 7th.

Christmas Tails Launches, Yet More Woodwork

Filed Argus after a small update yesterday, then charged into two jobs. First an update for Christmas Tails. The album is now live for pre-sale. I set up the sales spreadsheet and reminded artists about next week's cover creation day. It will be half a day's work preparation for that, and the full day of work on it.

Then, much work on the shelves, which have taken far longer than I anticipated. The CD shelves are complete, apart from painting and fitting to the wall. Glued the top and bottom sections to the box shelves, then marked new spine/columns to reinforce the shelves and sawed them into two 50mm (ish!) sections, which look a bit like 1M long rulers of wood as a result. The width is approximate because the wood is an off-cut. Then, drilled for the hinges for Deb's door, though I can't drill and fit the other half of the hinges until the doors are closed and in place, thus I needed to wallpaper the doors next.

These four doors are to be wallpapered in a seamless way, so needed to be stuck as though one huge door. I laid them flat and stuck the wallpaper with PVA, which was somewhat tricky as the glue doesn't allow easy movement. I should have glued (with roller) only the top third or so, placed the paper accurately, then glued the rest. I trust and hope that the doors themselves are not now glued together, but if they are a little, it may help as they need to remain as one block for a while, while I fit the hinges.

I'm exhausted from so much running about. Other jobs to do: routing the slots for those new spines, and cutting little notches in the back of the shelves to fit them. Screwing the newly-glued top in place, and fitting the central vertical spine. Then these shelves will be done, apart from painting and fitting to the wall.

In Deb's shelves, trimming the wallpaper, marking the other half of the hinges with the doors in place, then fitting those, then fitting the inner hinges (these are Z-bend doors), then slicing the wallpaper with a scalpel (which I could boldly do at the end after fitting the doors if I wanted. Then, fitting everything into the alcove, and possibly gluing the shelves (they will work without glue, but glue will attenuate sag). That would be it!

I'm still annoyed at my delivery. There must be some process when a neighbour simply takes an item when a delivery is left with them. I'm blessed that this item was £5 not £50.

Tree Of Keys Videos, Delivery Exasperation, Hinge Screws

First, listed Tree Of Keys on my websites and linked to the sheet music, then created animated subtitles for the 3 Tree Of Keys videos, then recompiled them with the new audio and set them up appear in December.

Was annoyed in the morning as a Yodel delivery, due today, did not arrive, with no sign of a courier or attempt made to call at the house. All I received was an email that it has been successfully delivered to a 'neighbour' in a different street. After 10 minute walk to that address, they had reported that no delivery had taken place. I complained to Yodel, and was sent a photo of the item being pushed through the letter box; it was clearly the neighbour's front door. I went back and showed them the photo and, this time the mother of the man I'd spoken to earlier, said that item photographed half way through the box was not proof it had been pushed through, and claimed that the driver had taken it back after taking the photo. This, in my opinion, seems unlikely.

I've started the complaints process.

I set up a future Steam sale, then glued the shelves for the second cabinet, doing the gluing in stages this time to make things easier. When testing the lift hinges for Deb's cabinet, it became clear that the holes were too small for 3.5mm screws, 3mm were the largest which would fit, yet the only 3mm screws I had were 20mm long. These are too short for the heavy work of holding a door, so in the dark evening I went to buy some 3mm L40 screws. I've planned on using 4 hinges, but these double doors are heavy, so I'll upgrade to 6; 6 here, and 6 for my future wardrobe project.

Tree Of Keys Filing, Shelf Woodwork

A broadly sleepless night interspersed with strange nightmares.

Today, another full day, starting with essential Tree Of Keys admin. The CD and download track sizes were slightly different as I'd included the between-track gaps in the downloads. This isn't correct; there are not separate CD and download versions of this album, and ISRC codes are shared. The same code should point to an identical recording, not have different lengths. So, I first unified the track lengths by adjusting the CD project. Then filing the album across various music authority databases. I can't do more until I have the EAN-13 code.

Then, a full day of work on the shelves. I unclamped the CD shelves, then drilled 3mm pilot holes and screwed the top and bottom. Screws are needed as these are key load-bearing parts. I used the 4.5x50mm screws intended for the wall, thus needed those somewhat large holes (I normally use 3.5mm diameter screws, I chose the bigger ones partly because they were golden and pretty).

Then, marked the new central supports, cut these, and routed out 6mm slots. For the 12mm slots, needed in the assembled shelves, I did some experiments. In the end, I clamped 12mm MDF each side of the 6mm shelf, then used a 16mm forstner bit to drill sideways into the shelf. This created a slot wide enough to fit the 12mm spine, my 12mm bit didn't (in tests) make a slot wide enough. It wasn't perfect, but sufficient.

I made one mistake in cutting slot in the top shelf when I didn't need to. So I fixed this with a plug. It's at the back, not serious, and will practically be invisible when painted. Mistakes, in life, are inevitable.

For the other shelf unit the spine is 6mm wide, necessary because the width is designed explicitly for 'Really Useful Boxes' and the size is tight. To strengthen that all, I'll also be adding flat pieces to the back, to act a bit like columns, or a fake back-board. That will (should) be the last of the sawing. I'll do that another day.

Tree Of Keys is now done, a necessary reworking because this album was not listed or present anywhere. Next I need to remaster The Modern Game for the same reason, then The Myth Of Sisyphus, but that as part of my regular upgrade process. I aim to remaster one old album for each new one, but this year I've remastered or re-recorded a lot of albums, partly because of the switch of distributor gave me this opportunity, and partly because of upgrades in my mixing and singing skills. I can't wait to rework Nightfood, my favourite album, but each must wait their turn.

I also have books to write, and paintings to work on... yet everything feels like fixing what is old. I'm working to death, yet feel I'm not making progress. At some point, some point, I'll have time to create new things, which all artists should be doing. I've said it before, creativity is about digging tunnels, then shoring them up, both activities are valuable and necessary. Those who charge ahead without shoring up the tunnels may get lucky and find a cave of gold, or they may end up suffocating due to a tunnel collapse. Good luck (or bad luck) never lasts forever.

Onwards we roll our heavy rock.

Tree Of Keys Admin, Shelf Plans, Rehearsals

A lighter day. Completed some essential Tree Of Keys admin, filing the album, updating the lyric and iTunes booklets, creating artwork and the listing for my websites, and adding the album details to the Cornutopia Music Catalogue. Then burning an archive CD, and registering the album for release on December 12th. There is more to do on the admin side, perhaps half a day, but I also need to update and upload the music videos. I've not created any Spotify Canvases for this. This is possible too, but it can be a slippery slope that leads to making full videos for the whole album, with little return but the satisfaction of my neatness obsession.

I've (mentally) solved the shelf problem. I'll add a central support to both units. The larger (box) shelves are so tightly designed that there is barely room for a 6mm vertical, but I think there is. I'll cut a spine from 12mm and 6mm wood for each unit, and cut slots into it to slot between the shelves. After trying today's final cabined, this should work fine. Even a heavy box barely sags the 6mm shelves. The box shelves need to take more weight though, so I'll add extra supports to the back too. I could do the same with the CD cabinet but I don't think it's needed.

I also stained Deb's shelves brown, and the back of the doors, but the results there were somewhat patchy. I used dilute Golden Fluid Acrylic Raw Umber. I'm very used to using dilute black, which is a superb stain, but the brown is a little more difficult. I should have used yet more water (more than 1:1) and yet more coats. It is adequate considering this is for the dark inside of the doors, but the imperfection still bothers me.

I also managed three full rehearsals of Thursdays performance. I must do this every day until then to master it. I need to decide on an outfit... this might be the first outing of my gold glitter jacket, suitably Elton John for this special occasion! I perhaps need a gold hat-band for my bowler.

Onwards to glory we fly!

Tree Of Keys Finalised, Shelf Work

A tiring if not exhausting day. Started by finalising the Tree Of Keys remaster, breaking apart the tracks, deleting most of the former album and preparing for the release. There is much more to do.

From 10:30 the rest of the day was filled with woodwork, I needed to take advantage of today's dry weather. Things went according to plan, but I'm worried that the plans were flawed. First, here are Deb's shelves.

You can see the little 'tabs' on the edges of the shelves. These enter the slots, but leave the rest of the shelves out, as seen. These will be in the recess of the alcove, this 'frame' fits over the front. This went to plan and seems to be on track.

When making the bigger shelves however, I became aware just how long and shallow they are. 1 metre is a big stretch for 6mm MDF, and I'm worried that the shelves will sag alarmingly. I simply didn't consider this. It's possible that tension will hold the shelves in place like a suspension bridge. Here's the assembled CD shelves:

The shelves are slotted into 6x6mm grooves. The whole thing was incredibly difficult to clamp and took a lot of time and frustration. Ideally, I'd need about 3 sash-clamps capable of over a metre stretch, but perhaps these band clamps are the most efficient way. It was not easy to get everything to hold in place when only glue is stopping it all collapsing. The other shelf unit is larger, and so will be more difficult. After today's experience, I plan on fitting the shelves first, band-clamping horizontally, as the slots make those easier.

There are many ways to address potential shelf sag, apart from making a whole new set of shelves with 12mm MDF. I could support each one above or below, at the back perhaps to emulate a back-board. I could add a central support (or other verticals), or brackets fitted to wall; though all of these will impinge upon the area usable for objects. The first option could at least be made to look pretty. I could cheat further and fix the middle of the shelves to the wall with a hidden dowel or bolt. This has appeal for its elegance and invisibility. When these first set of shelves are set I can test them to see what is required.

Tree Of Keys, Compose Yourself Rehearsals

Worked solidly today on the Tree Of Keys remaster. Listened to the album last night and made a few notes about changes, mostly about the sheet music, yet today found myself adjusting almost every track, sometimes much more radically than expected. I think the results are much better, but I'll have to wait to listen in a future day, with clear ears. These days are a lot of work, and sometimes feel like achieving very little. Tiny steps, crafting an album destined to be unpopular, yet as valuable and important as any too. Art isn't about popularity. The best art will never be popular, and most popular art is frequently poor; mediocre the very word for average has come to mean something of poor quality.

I conducted a video interview in the morning for Galleria Balmain, but a technical problem meant that it wasn't recorded. Still, this was a useful rehearsal.

This evening, practice for the three songs I'll perform at the 'Compose Yourself' event. I've at least decided on the three, but finding each one more difficult. I'll be playing 'More' with new instrumentation, I'll play the guitar lead parts, but on synthesizer. I've found yet more errors in the sheet music for two of the songs.

The days feel like a struggle. I feel I'm not making enough new things, not making progress towards any new and brilliant goal, but I must at least finish and master what I am involved with. Most artists are trapped by their passions of the time, irrespective of common sense or rational belief; yet, it is this quality which can lead to new things. The very first rule of creative success is to do what others do not.

Onwards and upwards we crawl. Hand over knotted hand. Fist over bloodied fist.