Float mounting and arts market!

Almost ready for the Xmas Arts Market now and since I’m going to be selling a range of new small prints that I’ve been working on I thought it would be a good idea to share my thoughts on how to frame them. Personally I think they look great float mounted. I meant to take a photo of one that I framed this way but erm, I forgot, and now it’s hanging in the Winter Exhibition at Edinburgh Printmakers. Oops.

So anyway, here’s a (relatively) simple way to float mount one of my small prints (this example is for the 20cmx20cm prints, so adjust sizes for the 20cmx18cm ones!).

I usually recommend that my prints are framed by a professional framer, however, when they’re this small I don’t think it’s a bad idea at all to use an inexpensive frame, and the one I’ve used for these in the past is just over £6 from Ikea.

You will need:

Ikea box frame (Ribba 23cmx23cm http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/80078269)

Piece of 5mm thick foamboard cut slightly (about 1cm all round) smaller than the print to be mounted.

Lightweight archival mounting tape (such as Filmoplast)

Two 2.2cm x 23cm strips of 5mm thick foamboard
Two 2.2cm x 22cm strips of 5mm thick foamboard

Strong masking tape

Strong framing tape

(All of the above – apart from the frame which is of course from Ikea! – should be available from good art supply shops)

A pair of plyers

1. Remove the back of the frame by bending back the metal pins that keep the backing board in place and removing the board and the mount that come with the frame.

2. Set aside the paper that’s included.

3. Attach archival tape to the back of the print in a T-hinge method as below (note – the image only shows tape at the top edge but you’ll need to do the same at the bottom edge too) :

4. Place the foamboard (the piece cut to just smaller than the print) squarely (you can make small pencil marks on the back of the print before attaching the tape if you like to make sure it’s straight) on the back of the print and press firmly but carefully to make sure the tape is secured.

5. Measure the aperture in the window mount that’s included with the frame. Now replicate the size of the aperture in pencil on the back of the foamboard, measuring from the sides to make sure it’s centered.

6. Using the same method as before, attach archival tape to the back of the foamboard, making sure the adhesive bits that are facing outwards are OUTSIDE the lines of the aperture that you drew.

7. Place the window mount on the BACK of the foamboard (ie: the print is still face down on the table) so that the aperture lines up with the one you drew in pencil.

8. Press the window mount down onto the foamboard so it sticks and then secure with strong masking tape, using the aperture as access to the foamboard below (ie: the tape should overlap the window mount aperture, onto the foamboard so you end up with a square of masking tape in the middle).

9. Flip over to make sure the print is aligned in the centre of the mount board (if it’s not, you can always adjust it by removing the masking tape and carefully slitting the archival tape with a craft knife and re-doing it).

10. Take the frame and, using the plyers, carefully remove the metal pins.

11. With the frame still face down and the glass in place, insert the long strips of foamboard on edge directly against the internal sides of the frame and push down so that they fit snuggly into the frame and there are no gaps (you will be using the two longer ones opposite each other).

12. Place your mounted print face down into the frame. The strips of foamboard should now act as a ledge so that the print sits to the back of the frame. Hold it up with your fingers keeping it in place and check it looks ok.

13. Place the frame back down on the table again face down and lay the backing board into the frame against the mount. The backing board should lie almost flush with the frame now.

14. (If you want to you can try to re-insert the metal pins at this point but be warned it is not easy!) Using the strong framers tape, secure the backing board to the edge of the frame. The edge of the tape should not overlap the sides of the frame, but should be in line with it, so that the majority of the tape sits on the backing board. Do this around each edge so they are all covered and no dust can get in. You can use your fingers to press the tape into any corners so that it’s well stuck down.

15. Your float mounted print is ready to hang! You can use the hanging kit included with the frame or attach mirror plates to the back of the frame.

Disclaimer: This is just my method for float mounting using this specific frame. There are other resources on the internet that you may want to consult if you’re using a different kind of frame or if you want to be more professional about it (ie: you may want to use the Japanese rice paper method of hinge mounting). If you’re unsure then please do use a professional framer.

Dancing on the Ceiling

No, not a reference to songs by Lionel Ritchie or Ella Fitzgerald but rather the name of my latest print, which includes elements pertaining to an unusual type of performance from the 19th century – ceiling walking. This is the first of a new mini-series that I’m doing on an ongoing basis that will be smaller both in the scale of the series and in the size of the actual prints, making them more suited to selling through outlets such as the arts markets and in shops. This one will also be part of this year’s Edinburgh Printmakers Winter Exhibition which opens on 14th November and they will be for sale through the gallery there and also at the Christmas Arts Market at Out of the Blue on the 5th, 12th and 13th of December. Oh and on my website and etsy shop too (incidently I’ve set all shipping costs on my website to zero hence the higher price). I will be trying to produce as many new ones before the market as possible, as well as a new Christmas card design for this year and a re-print of last year’s design too. I’ll also be putting up simple instructions here soon on how to float mount these small prints, which is the best way to display them.

‘Dancing on the Ceiling‘ Screenprint, © Sharon Whyte 2009

All of this does not mean that work on the major new series has ceased, however. It is still in the development stage, and no actual printing will take place until early 2010 (other than the odd test print). Producing these smaller prints keeps me in the workshop though which is good, and with screenprinting I find that I learn something new with every print I produce – therefore it’s all preparation for ensuring that I keep producing better and better work. Indeed I am feeling extremely enthused about the new project and the book, especially since my recent visit to the home of magic historian Eddie Dawes and his wife Amy, who herself has done a lot of research and writing on the subject of female magicians. They have an incredible collection and their generosity in sharing it and in sharing their knowledge is truly inspiring and I feel incredibly privileged to have been able to spend that time with them.

My recent series of prints on the subject of learned animal performers are still touring the Highlands as part of the magic themed exhibition Now You See It, with the show in Inverness opening on the 14th of November at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery. I’ll be going to the private view on the 13th armed with my camera to record this, the first showing of a full series of my work in a public art gallery, which I’m a little bit excited about! I’ll also be represented at the Edinburgh Art Fair this year for the first time by the Mansfield Park Gallery who will be at stand 16.

I’m very happy to report that two of the learned animal prints are now in the collection of Paintings in Hospitals for London and the Southern Regions. The Java Sparrows and Munito at Work were chosen by the curator and could now end up on display at any hospital in the region that they cover (there are different collections for each region). I do really think that having art in hospitals is of benefit to people, so I was really happy to donate to the collection.

That balanced out the rather negative experience of being involved in the fiasco that was the closing of the Artworks Galleries in Newcastle. I won’t go into too much detail because I’m trying to just forget about it all now, but basically I had work there when the bailiffs were sent in to seize everything due to the owner Matt Forster not paying his rent and sub-letting part of the property but keeping the money himself (he’s also angered a lot of artists by allegedly not giving them the money owed to them from work that he has sold of theirs – and he’s supposed to be an artist himself!) and it was a real pain trying to get my work back. I’m pleased to say that myself and two other artists I know who had work there Chantal Powell and Annabel De Vetten did all get our stuff back, but when I visited the auction house there was so much artwork there and I very much doubt that all of it made its way safely back to the artists who made it as we were not told about any of this happening and only discovered it by chance.

The fact that things like this can happen so easily makes it very hard to want to do the things that you have to do as an artist in order to have your work seen – ie: just hand over your work to people – especially since the insurance that’s available to artists is either prohibitively expensive or just not that good (often it doesn’t cover the full cost of the work, or it’s only for one off exhibitions, not usually for long term loan on a sale or return basis) but then again the vast majority of galleries are not in the business of ripping people off and provide a good service to the artists they represent. I just wish there was some way of knowing beforehand if the person you are dealing with has a bad reputation or not.

Anyway, on a more positive note to end with, please do come along to the Arts Market and the exhibition at Edinburgh Printmakers if you live in Edinburgh and support local artists and crafts people by buying original Christmas presents – much better than 3 for 2 at a certain high street retailer! And if you come to my stall and tell me about 3 non-bog-standard presents that you’ll be giving people this year then I’ll give you a discount. For years I’ve been considering giving up on Christmas altogether – what with my being completely non-religious just for starters, but also because I can’t stand the ritual exchange of either absurdly expensive or absurdly crap commercial presents (especially since I can’t afford the absurdly expensive ones!) – but I’ve now decided that instead of giving up on it altogether, since there are aspects of it that I really like, that I’m going to produce a special print edition every year that will be exclusively for friends and family and won’t be sold anywhere and give those as gifts instead. If you were hoping for an unnervingly pink bubble bath gift set with matching eye mask you’re out of luck I’m afraid.