Framing A President
So, it's been awhile since my last blog. I received an enlightening phone-call from a potential customer asking, "Are you still in business?". It was a very simple question that at first I couldn't figure out why someone would ask. Aside from the obvious economic difficulties faced by many, I couldn't (or didn't) consider the impression my lack of blogging was making in regards to the overall "appearance" of things here at Corners. So I assure all of you, yes, I am still in business. In fact, I've been blessed with many interesting orders that have kept me far too busy to create a blog entry. Never mind finding the time to compile the photos, put the photos with the story, have the wife proofread for grammar and spelling, and then post. In between that, finding time for daily Facebook posts and tweets, keeping up with Google and other search engines. Man, keeping up with the internet is a full time job!
On my way to work almost every day, I find myself at a traffic light behind a SUV wallpapered with clever bumper stickers. I'm reminded of one of those bumper stickers here: "Top 10 reasons I procrastinate: #1...". The bottom line, there is no acceptable excuse, is there? Time to stop the procrastination and as Nike puts it, "just do it".
This blog is about the framing of a 1913 newspaper. As you can see in the photos, the newspaper is torn and worn. The customer wanted to present the newspaper cover page as a gift. The importance of conservation techniques took a back seat to overall presentation of the piece. Don't get me wrong, the client was concerned with preserving the integrity of the newspaper, but decided that permanently mounting the piece was more important than avoiding the use of adhesives. Franky, I don't blame him. With the paper literally crumbling to the touch, mounting the paper was a high priority to eliminate any more flaking. Besides, you can enjoy a framed newspaper hanging on the wall far more than one kept in an archival sleeve or a lock-box in storage! With a quick treatment of Magnesium Oxide (in a water-free formula) to neutralize the acid in the newspaper, I began the framing.
The first issue I addressed was the holes in the newspaper (where the paper was missing). When mounted to a backing board, the foamcore would show through as a bright cream color. This would be a huge contrast to the dull aged newspaper color. The end result would be a bright, distracting color that would draw the eye away from the overall presentation and to the flaws of the artwork. Matboard color matches to the yellowing of paper and the grey of the print were found to replace the missing sections.
When the newspaper is vacuum pressed and mounted to the matboard, the line between each matboard would be permanently pressed into the newspaper. To avoid this, I stripped the top layer of matboard from the core of the cream colored mat.
Then I stripped an equal size piece from the grey colored matboard. The matboard is then vacuum pressed and mounted together to become one, solid, two tone matboard. The newspaper could then be mounted to this single board to hide the holes in the paper.
The newspaper was finished off with an ornate, traditional, black wood frame with a masculine influence - replicating a 19th century design. The result is a frame that truly fits the piece - in more ways than one!
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