Best of 2024 Part 1

2024 was full of changes and innovations. As always, it is our customers who are the true inspiration! Check out some of our favorites:

Painting from Cuba in purple/red rustic frame

This colorful painting from Cuba just makes us smile. We love how the rustic, hand-painted purple and red frame The Chester Frame Company harmonizes with the art!

Horseshoe in acrylic box, mounted on natural linen backing with brass plaque.

It's always our honor to create a memorial project for a client. The mounted horseshoe is protected with an acrylic box and finished with a custom brass plaque.

Animation cell from Fantasia in a gold ornate frame with matching gold fillet and purple matting.

A vintage Disney animation cel from Fantasia got the royal treatment with a scroll-pattern gold leaf frame, purple linen mat and gold filet. Finished with Museum Glass for maximum clarity and UV protection.

Animation poster in custom-poured acrylic frame with a soft matte finish.

This contemporary Japanese anime poster was framed simply with a smoke-toned Prisma custom acrylic frame and Optium Museum Acrylic for incredible clarity and 99% UV protection. Stunning!

Pop art in a custom wrapped bright pink shiny frame.

Our client really wanted a hot pink frame, so we turned to 3M vinyl wrapping for a custom solution. (You can wrap a car, why not a frame?) The result was pure pop perfection! Optium Museum Acrylic finishes the no-mat look and all signatures are preserved.

A quartet of Mucha images nestled together in a green mat and subtle scroll silver frame.

Four beautiful Art Nouveau postcards got an elegant treatment with a jewel-toned mat and silver scroll frame. A simple design, but one of our favorites!

Grey suede mat perfectly matches the faux metal frame. A holographic vinyl inner frame perfectly picks up the holographic elements in the poster.

We just finished this Radiohead concert poster --and it's not every day that we combine a suede mat, holographic vinyl wrap and a metallic dark silver frame in one design. Every part of the framing amplifies the artwork, making it by far one of our favorite designs of 2024!

Poetry Reading 365 Days of Grief

On July 29th, we welcomed local Author Nat Puttavon to share her book of poetry with a reading, book signing, and Q&A. Illustrator Stephanie Patterson displayed favorite images from the book with an art reception on our gallery wall.

The crowd was moved by the touching and often emotional poems. Each of the 5 chapters explores the 5 stages of grief: anger, denial, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Congratulations to Nat Puttavon and Stephanie Patterson for the amazing art reception and poetry reading for 365 Days of Grief! It was an inspiring moment of connection and community.

We have books and prints for sale through the end of August!

Bleach And Bone: Summer Group Exhibition

Now On View: Bleach and Bone

Gallery wall, “Bleach and Bone” summer group exhibition.

Our summer art show “Bleach and Bone” features works in black-and-white by NW artists including C.E. Godfrey, Peter Keller, Max Singler, Rich Smith, Eugene Pizzuto and Julia Ricketts. Black pigments including ink, acrylic, pen and graphite create a range of textures, marks and imagery in this refreshing installation, which includes a mix of figurative and abstract works.

Beware: Proper Hanging Hardware

There is more to fine art picture framing than just aesthetics, proportions, and color theory; we are engineers who need to consider how to combat one of art’s great enemies: gravity. A beautifully made frame with matching mat and fillet are not very useful if they end in a pile of glass on the floor.

Here is a great example: A client used the wrong hanging orientation on their artwork, damaging the hanging hardware and risking an accident. The D-Ring hangers were originally mounted vertically for two hooks or for hanging on a picture rail. The later addition of a wire pulled the D-rings towards the center, twisting the metal almost apart. Yikes!

Do you have a question about the best way to hang a heavy piece of art or a mirror? Bring in your piece for a consultation, or send some photos to info@baasframingstudio.com and we’ll be happy to help!

Standard Wire orientation is a must for most framing projects: the gentle angle of the D-ring mimics the direction of the wire while it is hanging on the wall, thus relieving tension in the hook itself. For picture rail hanging systems, the wires must be directed straight up to attach to the picture rail itself.

Here you can see the difference: the D-Ring on the left is normal. The D-Ring on the right was not hung with proper wire orientation and the pressure has pulled the D-Ring out of shape. This can be dangerous if the hook fails all together.

Moral of the Story: when in doubt give us a call or email! We are more than happy to discuss the best options for safely hanging your art. We guarantee all our frames will have the proper hanging hardware and wire orientation. No bent hooks here!

Our April Art Show was Highly Motivated

We kicked off the 2024 art season in April with a solo show by local portrait artist Max Singler.

“Highly Motivated”, Max Singler’s premier showing of an all new collection of portraiture, was a major success. The collection features both immediately recognizable and lesser known Cannabis rights activists. Each painting is accompanied by an explanation of the individual’s work within the movement.

As a cohesive unit, the collection evokes a sense of unity among people who operate in small, individual actions to achieve a common objective. Often villainized in decades past, Cannabis has recently emerged in the social consciousness as a benign pastime; especially with the ongoing legalization process in the United States. This body of work seeks to normalize that trend even further.

Rich colors and masterful brushstrokes bring each personality to life. Upon closer examination, intricate details emerge with extended contemplation of each oil painting.

A reception with the artist in attendance was held on April 20th and was met with a fanfare of attendants. In fact, we tested our limits for how many art patrons can fit in our doors at once! Snacks, drinks, laughs, and music permeated the atmosphere with a sense of playfulness and fun.

We held an auction for the Cannabis-Rights organization “Last Prisoner Project”, raising over $100!

It was the highlight of the evening: raising money for a worthy cause as well as connecting beautiful artwork with eager art collectors.

Pendants by StoneGlass and art befitting a 420-themed show were up for auction.

A special thanks to Miles Lark for helping with the coordination and installation of the show!

From left to right: artist Max Singler, Baas Framing Studio owner Colleen Godfrey, and friend of the arts Miles Lark.

Retrofitting Frames: Antique Shop Finds

Sometimes an old frame is not suitable for artwork anymore and needs to be recycled. Then there are frames that still have life left, but they need some extra TLC to look their best. That’s where a dedicated and knowledgeable frame shop comes in!

Vintage gold ornate frame with burgundy velvet liner and inner textured gold frame. Note the damage: especially around the corners.

This lovely old frame was rescued from an antique mall to be used on a manuscript print from the 1600s. The velvet was in need of cleaning. The corners of the frame were showing gaps and missing parts of the finish. Finally, the interior gold textured frame was a little too much on the eye, and needed to be replaced with something more elegant.

Here you can see the gaps forming at the corners as well as the missing finish on the gold and black sides.

The framer began by covering the delicate velvet border with tape so as not to get it dirty as the frame was retouched.

Notice a part of the upper profile moulding is missing as well as a crack forming at the corner.

Although still not prefect, the retouches soften the look of damage immensely and lend a feeling of care and consideration to the framing presentation.

Next the framer filled all the gaps with specialty glue to provide extra stability. Then the finish was carefully retouched using paint and putty to replicate the previous colors and cover the damage.

The inner gold frame is removed carefully to allow a new fillet to be inserted.

The framer removed the inner textured frame to create a better style. This also allowed for a better final cleaning of the velvet liner as well.

A small gold fillet replaced the old gold inner frame, opening up the frame by a few more inches.

And finally the antique print could be installed with acid-free matting, backing, and Museum Optium Acrylic for a stunning no-glass look.

The finished frame, completely retouched and sporting a new fillet.

The end result is a gorgeous marriage of art and frame: each complimenting the other. Great care was taken to match the shade of gold on the new fillet to the old gold of the frame - making a nice transition for the eye. The upgrade of Optium Acrylic allows the viewer to see every minute detail in the tiny print.

Bellisima!