Fixtures and Pictures Workshop: For the future of art

A workshop to teach the skills of picture framing was held as part of Ramp Festival , hosted by Wintec – Te Pūkenga.

The workshop was organised by Ramp Festival Director Megan Lyon, and led by Emily Rumney and Steph Chalmers. Together, they have a close to 50 years of experience in the picture framing industry and gallery sector and are the owners of Framing House in Lovegrove Lane, Hamilton.

Emily and Steph started by discussing the importance of framing as a way to help you treat the artwork in a good way and think about the future of the artist’s work. In addition, they say framing can help the artwork not to be compromised.

Emily and Steph discussed glass quality, and explained how museum glass makes a “massive difference” from regular glass. Using museum glass shows the quality and details of the artist’s work while regular glass doesn’t work as well and may affect the appreciation for the artwork. Some of their glass is imported from Latvia, which is known for its high quality .

The matboard they use to frame the work is mostly made of cotton and those are machine cut. Emily and Steph said they use a slip sheet while cutting the matboard to be able to have a smooth cut and not to affect the front surface.

They also suggest you don’t use blutak and pins on artworks because it can cause damage and suggest using hang tabs instead and a tape spec, or as Steph calls it “the orange tape”.

Some of the issues they face while framing is that some colours on artworks fade easily and must be framed with a UV protected glass. This can also depend on the environment. They talked about how a client wanted a puzzle piece to be framed but due to the quality of the materials and pigments of the puzzle piece, its colours faded despite being placed in a frame. Also, materials like post-it notes and plastics have colours that tend to fade easily.

Emily and Steph also showed students different hinging and hanging methods. One interesting hanging method was using an acid free double sided tape gun that is hinged all the way to lift up the artwork, making an illusion that it is lifted on the frame.

When framing textiles, they feel it is much better to be stitched, but it is a long process. Steph said she once stitched a rugby jersey on a foam board, and it took her hours and hours of stitching.

On the hanging methods for photography, they say you must use a perfect mount self-adhesive board, then use a hang tab with no cord hanging on a heavy frame. They said not to worry because most of the hanging hardware has instructions on them.

After going through tips and demonstrations, they finished the workshop by discussing how to care for your artwork. They suggest you don’t wrap paintings on bubble wrap immediatelybecause it can leave marks that can affect the quality of the artwork and saythe painting must be wrapped on a cotton sheet then bubble wrap. They also say an artwork on a paper must be kept flat and not rolled because rolling can destroy the paper, and that all the artworks must have a safe space to store.

This workshop was a practical demonstration that helped artist learn how to preserve the future of their artwork so it can be be appreciated for many years to come.