Artist’s open studios

November 14th and 15th

I’m excited to be taking part in this in person event

I’ll have lots of new paintings to show and a few works in progress . I am especially looking forward to meeting people as it’ll be the first in person event I’ve done this year - It’s always enjoyable to chat about art.

Open studios is a well attended and well organised event that included 80 studios all over the Waitakere region. You can find out about all the artists and studios as well as a handy map on the official Waitakere open studio’s site. It’s a good idea to pick a few and make a day or afternoon of it, stopping for a lunch somewhere like Deco.

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new artworks

As well as the in person event I would like to do something online as well and thought I would share my tidy, visitor ready studio on facebook/ instagram by going live and also make my new mini paintings available. They are usually really popular and it’s nice to offer an affordable way of buying original art.

I went to an open studios event in Auckland City a few weeks ago and I enjoyed people’s spaces and asking questions and finding out about people’s process, where they got their frames made, how long they’ve been painting. I noticed no one had business cards, so I’ve made sure I’ve had some postcards to giveaway.

Another thing I looked out for, or listened out for was the kind of questions people asked. I’ve made a list of questions that often come up- This might be useful for artists doing open studios for the first time as it’s good to be prepared.

Questions for open studios

How do you begin your large paintings?

Do you decide what to paint before you start?

How long have you been painting?

What kind of paints do you use?

Which work is available?

Where do you get your frames made?

What’s your inspiration?

Is this your first time doing open studios?

I want to start painting again, do you have any advice?

Do you do commissions?

How do you sell your work?

Do you do prints?

How do you feel if people tell you they can see objects in your work?

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I hope to see you there,

If you can’t make it, I will post some updates on instagram and facebook between visitors.

Making a video with i-movie

At the beginning of this year one of my ideas was to use video more to document my art and creative process.
I thought by this point in the year I’d have a lot of experience but there were other challenges for this year that took up my time.

Well, I’m happy to share here my first video made with i-movie.

It’s actually a series of stills put together , and I’ve added text and music. It was quite fun to do once I got the hang of what to click when. It’s something I’d like to keep going with and my next step will be to film myself painting or talking. This is how I learn everything, small baby steps.

my latest series of paintings

I'm feeling really pleased and excited about finishing this group of paintings.

Last year all  I knew  was that I wanted to work bigger.

I'd done bigger paintings before but I wanted to adapt the way I worked on a larger scale . I wanted there to be evidence of the movement of my arm as it moved across the larger canvas, I wanted there to be more gestural marks and movement.

So, I started like this, and worked fast laying down colour with a big brush. That initial layer I'd produced looked powerful and because of the scale of the brushstrokes and I kept them propped up against the wall in my studio for months because I liked having them there. They reminded me of Abstract expressionist artworks I'd seen in museums that I'd always found exciting. 

They sat there. After a while I realised they weren't enough. Deep down I  knew they weren't me. The work I want to make is more layered and complex and I don't want the making of it to be seen so clearly.

 I left them alone and worked on smaller paintings and then found myself going through  a low point with my painting. I know a lot of creatives go through this - I looked at the paintings I'd made in the past that were successful and thought - what if they were just a fluke? What if I don't know what I'm doing?

I felt stuck.

What helped me were  two changes in my approach.

Learning to create the paintings that felt like me

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Just before lockdown, in February I did an online art course with Nicholas Wilton and the part of the course that resonated with me was having more awareness of your own tastes, your own voice. This led me to delve into thinking about what I liked and kind of painting I really wanted to make.

I spent a lot of time reflecting on work I'd made in the past, looking at the parts that excited me. Sometimes I'll be painting quite intuitively and something good will happen and I'll get that buzz of excitement and surprise and I'd think - this is why I paint !
What I wanted to do was be more analytical and look at what made me feel that way and why. 
So I took notes about my own work as well as paintings of others that I liked and what my eye was drawn to. I also started looking more at the  visual world around me and noticing what interested me. 

Once I started paying attention it was like my creative spark came back- I was stopping to photograph the shadow of a street sign falling across the footpath on my walk to school pick up or cutting out colour combinations from magazines.  
I noticed i like 'cut out' motifs whenever I see them in things like graphic design or textiles and when I cut paper quickly  with scissors these hard edges have an appeal especially if next to something soft and muted. 
I looked at colour too and realised that I feel alive looking at certain colours together. I'm clear about what specific shades I like and don't like but it's the combination that i needed to become more aware of. I like a hot pink next to a cream or white because it lets it shine, but next to another saturated colour it doesn't work. 

I wrote in my studio journal " I want my painting to reflect the colours, shapes, lines, textures that excite me "

This sounds a bit analytical I know , as if I had a list to paint by...

- drippy paint- check
- swoopy curve- check

With this knowledge I still wanted to keep my intuitive approach to making art

The second thing that changed for me after doing the art course was I had the confidence to take more risks. In the past I'd often fall in love with an area in my painting that worked early on and that would stop me from making bold moves because I'd not want to mess up that area. 

During this series I've been braver than ever before and I think it shows - I've been more experimental with how I apply paint and let colours blend into each other and had areas where I have let go of so much control and let the paint do the work.
When a painting wasn't working  I asked myself questions like - " what does this painting need now? What would be unexpected?
I've used a huge line of paint over areas I'd carefully worked on or scratched into the surface, or thrown water at it. I'd lost my fear that I'd ruin it because I believe you need to go through a difficult stage to go forward. 
 
It was something external that got me moving when I  was stuck and doubting myself - doing a course.
But it was looking closer to home, looking inwards and changing my mindset that gave me the foundations to start the series and the determination to keep going. 

If you've read this far , thank you. I didn't expect to write all this

You can see this finished series here

Spring release

My thoughts in the middle of my new series.

This series is slowly coming together .I’m working on about 14 paintings together . Some big , some small. Some weeks it feels like one step forward and 2 steps back. Yesterday felt like forward  and it was a great feeling. What keeps painting interesting is not knowing what’s going to happen or exactly what it’ll look like in the end.

I thought I’d share what these pantings looked like when I started at the end of last year- before we’d even heard of things like lockdown and homeschooling and Zoom. I ended up putting them to one side for a while because I wasn’t feeling the same as when I started.

Painting as it was late 2019

My first few layers late 2019

I’ve noticed that I can’t paint if I’m in a grumpy or sad mood. My paintings come from a cheerful positive and optimistic place where I have time ahead of me and some music on, or maybe silence except the sounds of the birds outside my window. When I look at these paintings I feel good remembering my time creating them

This is what I like

Bringing back more gestural marks that I’d covered up.

This week I’m focussing on these big paintings and am at the stage where I’m refining and making decisions about what I want to keep . Sometimes my paintings can contain too much and become busy as I add shapes and lines . I have to take some time to look , consider my next moves , check my notes , without getting carried away. I’m getting better at this and have less of the fear that I’ll ruin what I have because I know more from experience that I’ll be able to fix it.

In this painting I added thin layers of acrylic thinned with medium and water over thicker built up paint . Sometimes I get a favourite bit that I don’t want to paint over and I know I have to fight that and remember to stand back and look at the painting as a whole .

During the painting process things happen by chance, like the tiny line or red that got picked up in the brush as I painted a brushstroke of lighter green. It immediately livened up the whole canvas so I knew I wanted to keep it there. We’ll see what happens with the rest of the painting.

Taking an online art course when you're in New Zealand.

I mentioned before that I’d made the decision to take an online 12 week course. It’s called ‘ The creative Visionary Programme” and is run by Nicholas Wilton, a sacremento based artist and his team. The course started just before most of the world went onto lockdown. I decided to throw myself in , determined to get as much out of it as I could.

I’d heard about this course from other artists before but didn’t really understand how it worked so I’ll try to explain the format.

The lessons are uploaded once a week onto an online portal which you work through at your own pace . I’d say that would take 2 - 3 hours a week. Just before the lessons are uploaded Nick appears live on facebook, talking to camera, discussing the previous week and what’s coming up. He does demonstartions , and chooses participant’s work to discuss . There is also a live coaching call, by Nick or his artist team members that ties in with the lessons. As well as this there’s a private facebook group where partcipants post work, answer questions, to foster community.

Each week there is a task or focus. which from week 3 is carried out on 12 x 12 boards. The course partcipants are all working at their own pace through the lessons but if they have a question about what they are working on they can upload to that week’s album with a question , which may get chosen by Nick or his team to discuss in one of the live calls.

I think that 2 people could have a very different experience of this course depending on their attitude and how they decide to approach it.. The group facebook page made me realise that I couldn’t assume people were experiencing it in the same way and at times I was surprised at how differerent some people approached the course. I suppose that’s understandable with 2000+ course participants from around the world.

There were people in the facebook group who seemed to get stressed if they couldn’t make a live call or got themselves up in the night to watch. There were a few other participants who seemed to lose enthusiasm in week 2 and said , Oh I haven’t get around to this and have lost enthusuiam. What ? What kind of person spends that kind of money and doesn’t try to get every cent’s worth?

But most people were in the middle, going through struggles .Having ups and downs and it was good to read about how others felt as they worked through the same things.

I soon realised that because of the different time zone I wouldn’t be able to make any of the live calls- I think I might have put one on my phone as I was making breakfast in the kitchen. That wasn’t a problem because everything is recorded. I think this ended up being a good thing as I didn’t feel any pressure to ‘ keep up’ and try to fit everything in at the right time.

I want to write more about what I learnt. But I think I am still processing it and I plan to go through the lessons again, letting the learning sink in . I have felt an increased confidence towards finishing my paintings and have experienced a change in mindset, which was a big part of the course.

The boards - I’ll share some here and just say that I learnt a lot .If you click through you’ll see one board at the end of each painting session. I went from - Why can’t I paint anymore? - to then having this confidence to finish off paintings I had in my studio in a more considered way . With more risk taking and not caring about messing up because I can always turn things around.

Here are the boards one and two that I was happy with the results because the paintings look different to my work before.

Making art when your family are at home

I felt very lucky to live in NZ while this pandemic occurred. With it’s fast and hard lockdown, it seems to have worked so far and now I’m looking back at it fondly as a time we slowed down and spent more time together as a family. I know not everyone had a good experience and I know that I was privileged to have a garden and a full fridge.

A lot of my time was spent learning about new technology for work as we moved English learners to online learning. This was a struggle especially as most of them didn’t own computers. I wanted to write more about life at the time but this is as far as I got, a few lines written in a notebook.

“I feel different towards the paintings I was working on before all this happened and have decided to put them to one side. The room where I paint has been given up to my partner who is working from home and instead i’m grabbing small moments at the dining table as my 9 year old plays or colours beside me - or more likely watches an episode of Barbie’s Dreamhouse. Because of this I‘m working on small pieces on paper and in my sketchbook I think that creativity can be vital as an escape during this time of so much uncertainty. “

Investing in my art

I’ve decided to do an online art course with Nicholas Wilton, an artist based in California, called the “Creative visionary Programme.”

It’s a big step for me, I haven’t done an art course for 25 years and I’m so ready and excited to do this.

Lately I’d felt bit stuck in my painting practice, I was spending SO long on paintings and then , when they were almost finished I’d doubt my judgement and start changing things and before I knew it I’d be making a new painting over the top. I spent too long worrying whether my work looked inconsistent. I needed something to get me out of these bad habits.

I’d heard people who’d done the course talking about how their painting and life had changed in so many ways after doing the course, that sounded exciting. At first I’d listened , thinking,” it’s alright for some” but I can’t afford that, it’s way over my budget

But then the more I heard the more it felt like something I should do . My painting is important to me and I was going to have years of creating art ahead of me. I started to think about investing in myself and why I found that hard. I needed to trust that I’d make the money back in painting sales. I realised that if I wanted to move forward I needed to take a risk sometimes and stop keeping myself small and safe.

As the deadline approached I talked about it with my partner and he asked, would you do if you had the money ? and I said definitely - he said it sounds like you should do it ! Though he did also say, are you sure it isn’t some kind of cult?

Why hadn't I heard of Louise Henderson and why is Colin McCahon's work everywhere?

This month I went to see the Louise Henderson exhibition at Auckland Art Gallery. The exhibition features work from her life spanning seven decades but it was looking at her later abstract work that made me question why I hadn’t heard of this amazing artist before. I love the shapes, the complexity and the joyous use of colour! . You can lose yourself by looking at her explorations of the New Zealand bush.

In the last room there are 10 huge abstract paintings so stunning and complex - they made my skin tingle and feel alive. She painted these when she was 85 years old, which for a late bloomer like myself is inspiration to keep doing what I love. . She should be a national treasure in New Zealand  in the way that Colin McCahon is - I feel like I might get my NZ citizenship taken off me if I admit that I’m sick of seeing these dark images on every story of the country’s art history but personally they do nothing for me. Art is personal and you have to respond to in your own way.

How to prepare for an open studios event

At the beginning of the month I took part in my second ‘ Open Studios Waitakere’

This year I decide to do a bit more preparation and made a few plans. The previous year I’d noticed that a few times I was talking to a couple of people in the main area and another couple would come in, have a quick look around and then leave even though they might have chatted if they’d found me alone. 

So I decided to make more use of the tiny office area next to my studio that visitors have to walk through. I hung up finished paintings with labels on the wall ( first time to do this) and I put out a sign-up sheet for my newsletter and to win a fine art print of one of my sold paintings. I also put some small paintings on paper , which were in clear bags for people to flip through.

In both rooms I decided to add some text because if you’re like me, when you look at art , you want to know the story behind the paintings or the artist. So I put up a short bio and also a description of my painting process.  Certain people went around reading everything but others didn’t notice the text and came to ask me about my process instead. 

I also made sure that I displayed some works in progress as well as some finished pieces. I put some of my paintings on paper in frames because I think it helps people see how the art would look in its end state - hanging on a wall. 

Although I prepared much more, the night before I woke throughout the night with anxiety, having dreams where people turned up and I was still in bed and i hadn’t tidied my studio.

Taking part in an open studios event At HOME

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Why do Open studios events ?

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For me, doing open studios gives me an opportunity to connect with a real life audience.

Working alone in a home studio, I don’t get to see reactions to my work or have many conversations about it.  Answering people’s questions helps me to articulate my ideas in a way that is different to just writing things down. I realised that when talking about my inspiration, I find I’m searching for particular words, so I need more practice speaking in a more concise way. 

It was good to meet other artists that visited. You get a feeling that people are artists from the questions they ask or the way they are looking at things and there’s a kind of excitement once you realise you can ‘talk shop’ . I enjoyed talking about studio spaces - they’re never big enough, comparing the best places to get framing done, recommending art books, and how to fix paintings to the wall when painting.

Some of the most memorable conversations for me were with people who weren’t currently making art and were missing the creative side of their lives. With other life commitments they were finding it hard to fit it in and didn’t know where to begin - but knew they needed to. I’ve been in that position myself so I could identify with that feeling and I hope that I was able to give them a few ideas to start off. I really want other people to find the happiness I have from rediscovering making.

Sometimes visitors told me - “Yours is the studio I most wanted to visit in the brochure” and I could see their eyes light up when they came into the main room with all the colour. I’ll admit that it felt good, better than getting likes on social media.

Do you see anything in the green painting?

Some people would have only visited because I was the next one on the map on their way to another studio. Not everyone was interested in non representational painting. I found it interesting to hear people a few people pointing out things they could see in this green painting above.

One person saw a man at a computer desk on the left , a musician saw a person playing a piano. On the right another person pointed out a tree and another a bird with a long tail. One visitor saw a whole city scene with high rise buildings , pointing out different corners and streets. It’s interesting how sometimes the eyes search for meaning in abstract work.

Art for sale

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So while the best thing about partcipating in Open Studios is the connections, the chance to sell some art is a definite positive bonus.

I made sure that I had lots of smaller, affordable artworks available that people could buy, perhaps on impulse.

This year I added prices to my paintings on the walls because I know I always want to know how much things cost if I’m browsing.

But by mid morning a small group were just leaving after chatting for a while and one of the women  as she walked out the door asked

- “Are any for sale? “

..... Ah, so I hadn’t made it obvious that my paintings were actually for sale. I think I had been too subtle with my little pricing labels - Just as I am when posting on instagram, not wanting to be too sales-ey . 

So in a quiet moment I made larger signs with a sharpie on coloured paper and a sign saying “ Art for sale at studio prices” I was pleased to make a few sales over the weekend and meet some people who intend to get back in touch about larger paintings.  I know that for larger paintings people usually need time. Time to consider a space, talk with a partner, and decide whether now is the time to treat themselves. This is why I like to do a newsletter so that if a painting stays in someone’s mind they can find me by checking their inbox. 

At the end of the two days of open studios, I felt tired but really happy. I wrote down all the questions I was asked in my notebook before I forgot .I think that I am going to answer these here on my blog maybe I could do one a week? 

If you couldn’t make it to open studios and have a question I’d love to hear it and try to answer.

Studio visits by appointment

…until next year

Open Studios Waitākere is an annual weekend event involving 40 artist studios. You can find out about all the artists involved, a map and interviews on the Open Studios Waitākere website click here

Creating art from listening to music

I was happy to be asked to take part in this exhibition called “ Art on record ” as part of New Zealand music month.

Each artist creates a 12” square artwork which is the imaginary cover for your favourite NZ album.

Actually, not growing up here, I tend to listen to British or North American music mainly but I knew as soon as I read the email that I’d choose

“ Future me hate me “ by The Beths ,as it was an album I’d recently fallen in love with

It came out in 2018 but it sounds like the kind of guitar pop I first started listening to in my late teens, so in some ways, it’s nothing new but it’s done so well. It’s catchy, energetic guitar pop, with  harmonies and great drumming, they get this kind of music just right.

I was driving home from work one day and  a song came on from this album and and transformed my mood completely. I got out of the car feeling positive and hopeful like there were a million possibilities  in front of me. I wanted to learn all the lyrics so I could keep singing along as it played in my head.

When it came to creating the 12 x 12 image I started to overthink it, and everything  came out too controlled and nothing looked right. I’m not a graphic designer, I don’t know what would work on a record cover.

I knew i wanted something playful and light, but with some darkness too, like the songs I thought.

In the end  I decided to paint as I played the album on repeat. I didn’t think too much and painted on about 4 paintings all at once because I was worried I’d mess  up. The one that stood out is the one that I painted on board. I’d forgotten how much I loved painting on board and plan to do more. So this experience has already been worth it as it’s lead to something else .

“ Future me hates me”

What is the the 100 day project

Can I be creative with just 15 minutes ?

This is a project started by Elle Luna on Instagram where people aim to do something for 100 days and post online. It could be anything - write a poem, a drawing, some lettering.

I  decided to complete a page in my sketchbook everyday. I wanted to have a moment of creativity everyday for 100 days and see the effect that has.

The plan was to select a maximum of three colours and to just play for 10, 15 minutes. I wanted to work out which colours worked well together. As well,  I hoped that by getting my brushes out, that 15 mins would turn into more painting time and lead to me working on other things.

Since starting this project, I’ve found that I’m thinking about what I want to do in my my sketchbook during the day, even if it’s just something as simple as “ the colour yellow” . It has kept me feeling focussed on my creative side , even on those days when the day is full of work and domestic tasks, I have that moment waiting for me.

I started off really well, going into the studio and setting out my paints, but then I had a few busy days - my child with a broken finger , then a cat with an injured leg , and I ended up leaving it until 11.30  at night, using my daughter’s crayons in the lounge. I didn’t stick to the maximum 3 colours rule I had imposed, but that’s ok, rules are meant to be broken sometimes. That was ok, at least I completed the page. Then, we had the Easter break and I actually forgot all about it for 4 days. So, I’m planning to play catch up to make it to day 22.

I think one issue is that I was taking a long time on these sketchbook pages, making them like layered paintings, when I really just wanted them to be colour studies. I predict the next few pages are going to be more simplistic.  I’m determined to get back on this as I really don’t like to give up on things.

Is value as important as colour in painting?

I thought I’d show you what’s been going on in my painting studio lately

Those of you that know my story, will know that I went to Art college in the UK in the 90's but because of the self directed nature of the course, I've always felt that there were so many gaps in my knowledge about how to paint.

So, over the last couple of months I’ve been delving into things that I usually just rely on instinct for. I've been reading about composition, about focal points and colour theory. I’ve also been  looking at my favourite works of art and analysing why they work.

I came across an article about how value -  light and dark, can be as important as colour.

I found this really interesting, so decided to do a number of monochrome studies by mixing only with black and white. I wondered if I could produce an interesting composition without colour. This was a good challenge for me as I am such a colour lover that  I sometimes struggle for a long time, going round in circles  to get the balance between light and dark right in a painting. 

After starting the year in this way I'm now dying to get on with making some big, colourful paintings and made a good start last weekend. I'll share these with you soon. 

Starting the year , making more time for art

“ Sometimes I don’t allow myself to paint because I feel like the rest of my life is too much of a mess”

If I could only get on top of things I’d be ok and have all this calm, peaceful time to create in.

When I don’t get to paint I feel sluggish, less patient with everyone and it affects all areas of my life. I think most people need some time for themselves, To do something that nourishes, recharges and wakes up part of the brain

Last year wasn’t good, and I felt like I was failing in every area. I was behind with paperwork for my teaching, behind with laundry and housework, putting off a grocery shop  and just topping up at the local , more expensive shop - every day and not being focussed on my daughter when we had time together. My lack of organisation meant that I’d be dashing out to buy bread in the morning, when i could have picked some up at the shop when I was there the night before. I wasted time on the wrong things and then rushed to do other things , doing them so them badly that I’d have to redo.

I needed to streamline the everyday things and clear my mind so I have the time to be creative, without feeling guilty.

So , in 2019 I’m trying a few new things.

The bullet journal.

I tend to write on little scraps of paper, sometimes enter events or things to do in the calendar on my phone, stick things on my fridge or the worst one, just trust that I’ll remember things. This means I always have this feeling that I might have missed something.

I saw this video of a the bullet journal that pulls together all these things we need to remember and I felt like this was the solution for me. I’m doing a very simple version.  I bought a basic A6 notebook and now, every morning I can sit with my morning coffee and in a couple of minutes can check what I need to do that day so that it clears my mind. There’s also future planning and random lists in there so no need for random bits of paper.

Blocking time.

Another thing I’m experimenting with is to block time for painting. If I know Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings are my painting times then I won’t say yes to other tasks.  I also won’t find myself thinking I wish I was painting when I’m doing something else bacause I’ll know I’ll be painting that evening, and I can enjoy the moment I’m in.

So these are what I’m trying. I’m not going to beat myself up if I drop them all by March but it was definitely time for some kind of reset.

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Beautiful writing about my art

I’ve always struggled with how to write about my process and paintings so when I read this piece of writing on the Website “ Hatemedateme ” I couldn’t have been more pleased.

“With a palette striking resemblance to Monet’s renowned water lilies, Dean juxtaposes muted tones of alabaster, azure, moss, and salmon with highly pigmented khaki, umber, and indigo varieties to produce an alluring abstract display. “I often have an idea of a colour palette when I begin but mostly rely on intuition and like the freedom to respond to happy accidents.”

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— Carla Hastie ' Hatemedateme.com'

How to frame art on paper

Photographs and art on paper are such a great way to start collecting art.

 After years of slowly renovating of our first apartment we were finally at the stage of buying something to put on our walls. We chose three works on paper from a gallery near work. I remember that exciting, heart pumping feeling of buying original art, not a print, but real art that we were going to hang and start to make our place into our home.

The gallery offered to put us in touch with their framer and we were shocked at the time that the framing cost as much as the artwork. However, we decided to go through with it.

When the framing came back we were impressed. It was done so perfectly, it was so impecible looking that it made the work look even better, like an object that we’re going to hold on to long term. And here, seven years later, the art is in the same condition and I feel confident that it’ll stay that way hanging around our home in the years to come.

My experience of buying and selling art on paper

Though I love to paint on canvas and paper equally,  the artworks that I sell most regularly are on paper. They’re more affordable, easy to ship around the world and I think, it’s also easier to make the decision to buy work on paper. I’m often asked about framing so would like to share what I’ve learnt with you

At the bottom, one of the artworks on paper we bought seven years ago,

I recently polled people on Instagram about framing and while most said that professional framing is the preferred choice , the cost sometimes means that we opt for an off the shelf frame. I recommend getting quotes from a couple of different framers if you haven’t used one before or are new to an area.  I got quotes when I moved to this area and they were wildly different. I was surprised that it wasn’t the little framer down a side street that was the most reasonably priced.

Once you’re at the framers you need to make the decision about how you want your artwork framed

Here I’ll go through the options.

Float mounting

This is when the artwork appears to be floating between the glass and the backing. The art is attached to  foam core and mounted on a white mat and spacers are used to separate it from the glass.

I think this style of framing is suited for original art on paper. It looks professional and elegant and really draws attention to the art.
It can be pricey but I think that it’s good to look at the long term view of it. You’re probably going to hold onto your artwork longer than you will most of your furniture, taking it with you as you move homes. Think of how many years of value it will give you in the future by making your home look and feel a certain way.

I love how you can see the rough edge of the paper because of the way it’s been float mounted.

Matting

Another option is matting, where a window for the art  is cut in a mat board.

I think this looks best with smaller paintings and drawings. I’ve put some of my smaller acrylics and watercolours in mats. It’s a good way to add space around a picture , especially if it’s near other artworks for example in a gallery wall. Some framers seem to offer a wide range of colours for mats. I prefer a plain off white.

Here I used a mat in a readymade frame.

Full bleed

This is when the image covers the whole of the area inside the frame. I think this is great for film posters, travel posters and art prints. If the art isn’t a regular size then professional framing could be needed for this too.

Oh, another thing I should mention is glass. When you go and talk to a framer they will ask you about what kind of glass you want.

Clear glass

This is the cheapest and offers basic protection from the environment and most of the time this might be fine.

Non reflective.

Think about where you want to hang your art.  If it’s a very sunny bright room, you might find it disappointing  if everytime you look at the art you bought , you see the reflection of yourself and your room. You might want to use non reflective glass.

Museum glass or UV filtering glass.  

This glass claims to stop 99% of UV rays from damaging the artwork. This can be a good choice for watercolour as it can fade over time with exposure to sunlight and the colours become less vibrant . Acrylic can fade too, but at a much slower rate so unless it was in a really bright area I wouldn’t choose this option.

So far I’ve talked about professional framing but there are times when we just don’t have the budget but we can’t wait to get the art onto our walls.

Readymade frames

The best readymades I’ve found are the ones that framers make and sell off in a range of  regular sizes. These are usually decent wood and the joints look well made. With the ready made frames I think they can look better with a matt. I’ve picked up some good ones at the framers.

Another option is to buy a frame and then get a mat with a custom window cut. Ask a framer to do this, you can even do this online. I know Factory frames offer this service in NZ. I think a small piece with a wide mat around it can look stunning.  

And you can always pick up a cheap frame at the big stores that sell homewares. If you’re buying an off the shelf frame, sometimes they have cardboard protection over the corners. I try to peek underneath or even pull them off until I find one where all the joints line up properly.

I found some small frames at Kmart that were perfect for displaying my mini A5 paintings. At this size they do the job and work well with these little pieces. I think the problem with the cheaper frames is when you move up to larger sizes and they are less stable and I’ve had them come apart as I change artwork. For slightly larger frames I’ve found these ones at Citta are a good quality readymade, pictured below.

Small original painting on paper by Helen Dean

if you live in the US there’s an online Framer “ Framebridge” where you can send them your artwork, upload your measurements and they custom frame your art for the price of an off the shelf frame. We don’t have this in NZ so I haven’t used it but it seems to have good reviews and the frames look great.

If you are buying direct from an artist it’s worth asking for a recommendation for a framer. It might even be worth asking the artist to arrange the framing as artists often get a discount for using the same framers regularly. I’m always happy to recommend, and l can also ask my artist contacts in other cities and countries for their inside knowledge.

This is my first attempt at writing a blog post , so I’d love to hear from you on Instagram or email.

Homestead picture framers, Henderson, Auckland

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