Title: “Long-eared Owl with Oak Foliage (Organically Framed)”
Artist: Michael Autumn
Medium: Hand-drawing – laser cut & engraved premium 6mm AB/AB Italian Panguaneta Poplar plywood
Size: 40cm (H) x 31cm (W) (including the frame)
Date: 2023
Country: UK
Description: I have this little art puzzle that I sell on its own (see photo below),
… but some people fed back to me that they would prefer to buy it framed. That’s fair enough – everyone has different tastes – and quite flattering in fact – that they like the design enough to want to put it on the wall – but not wanting to have to solve the puzzle and then go to the effort of getting it framed. So I simply adjusted the laser setting for the cut lines of this laser job so that it didn’t cut all the way through – just deeply scored. Et voila! An art engraving rather than an art puzzle!
If the truth be said, I don’t really like framing. I’m an artist, and I don’t like spending my time manually making frames – especially many of the same ones. And I really don’t like cutting mounts and glazing, cleaning the glass, etc – it’s quite mundane. But I do like designing frames – and making one-offs – frames that bring out the best of my artwork.
Thinking about framing this artwork I looked to see if there was a suitable readymade frame, but unfortunately there wasn’t any of the exact size required. Resigned to having to frame it myself, I thought about how I could make it more special – or interesting. My first thought was to put realistic and accurately-sized glass eyes in the owl – that would give it a central focus (no pun intended!). Also I thought the eyes should be embedded a little – rather than simply stick them on top – because this would look more realistic. And if I engrave the “sockets” as part of the laser design then they would be very easily accurately positioned and consistent. I did a few trials, and managed to get them exactly as I wanted (see photo below).
Back to the main challenge. I don’t really like small frames – they make the artwork look insignificant – and I thought a “normal” frame with a windowmount around this piece would make the artwork look even smaller…
I also thought that a conventional rectangular frame feels is at odds with the artwork – where there isn’t a single straight line. Eventually I got the idea of extending the artwork out into a wide wooden frame – and not having any straight line edges – just a naturalistic “edge”… I could laser directly onto the frame in the same style as the artwork itself. I looked for a wide (to give a greater overall size impact), light-coloured, plane wood moulding. I didn’t really want a completely flat moulding profile – because that would look less like a frame. Eventually I found a suitable shallow “cushion” moulding – which subtly differentiates the artwork from the frame – and I think it works really well – what do you think…?
The advantage of this frame is that I can varnish it the same way the artwork is finished – with non-yellowing, UV-protective, varnish – and it doesn’t require a windowmount or glass.
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