Completed draft 1 of my new files yesterday, so racing back to framing work. Feel tired and a little overwhelmed by my hamster-wheel existence, but there is no alternative. What is life but activity?
I made a couple of frames a few weeks ago and now I'm making two of the same size, for the same paintings, with a new (hopefully better) procedure. I started by gluing the top and back together to create a length with a 10mm rebate. Today, I measured these to a full length, then sanded the inner edge, to round it off a little, adding a smoother slope into the painting. Then I sanded the back with a power sander, far more efficient than doing this by hand. I had considered planing the back, but my tests showed that this gives a worse finish, and the back is very nearly flat anyway.
Then a coating of my home-made blue gesso. I used about 90ml of chalk, then liquid acrylic paint and water to make a paint of a syrup-like consistency. This was difficult to apply, it was rather thick, went sticky very quickly and had to be poured on, but this was a good way to apply it, lots of paint, poured and brushed. It made the process messy but relatively quick. There was time to texture it, and this worked really well. The pouring method was anticipated, and not much of a problem. Generally, in paint, several thin coats gives the smoothest finish, but this is a thick chalk layer that is very easily sanded.
After that, the two lengths looked like this:
The paint is dark at first but goes dramatically lighter when dried, this itself really helps see the exact texture of the surface which is really useful. White gesso is far less useful for this reason. The length on the left is sanded, it goes even lighter then. When wetted (with more paint, or varnish, or water) it becomes a fabulous dark blue. It's really quite miraculous.
The latter shows the texture.
After that, sawing and gluing. This was surprisingly inaccurate; most of the cuts were perfect, but the one I expected to work best seemed just wrong. Anyway, this isn't important. The frames are now gluing and when set, I aim to apply more gesso to fill in any gaps, thus, it should look like one smooth object.
The grain is raised by the water-based paint. I wonder if a coat of something solvent based (Paraloid B72? Polyurethane Varnish?) would seal it and allow super-smooth application of paint.
This is fun, my frames must look good and be part of my craft, but it doesn't feel like the best expression or use of my abilities. I must strive to create new paintings and music that are, again, better than I've done before, and I feel I can, but this is always difficult. I'm pulled regularly to tedious jobs to scrape for money, and the admin work; filing, records, though necessary, feels unproductive. The three paintings in progress might be my last of the year.
It's been a good painting year in craft terms but I feel I've only started, and want to create larger and more epic work. The 2021 clock has beaten me. I spend so much time improving or caring for older work, and soon I must work on a new cabinet for the Richard Dadd painting... a long-term aim. That was my first major woodworking project, and I've learned a lot in the 9 years since. This great painting deserves a masterpiece of a cabinet to match.
