Patriotic theme frames a salute to America - she frames …

I was asked to design this frame for individual of my favorite clients from California who mailed the print to me with instructions to "be creative." Since I've had the opportunity to design a certain quantity of very unique frames for him in the past, I felt extra compressing to create something really special. To throw back the style of the painting, I created a design that was simple in color, then embellished it with hand-painted moulding.

nurses Planning Mill delivered the moulding to me unfinished on the other hand nicely sanded and ready for primer. I chose a simple, Americana-style profile (#172 unfinished bass wood) that was easy to paint and would accommodate the made of wood stars I wanted to add later. To procure the right shade of sapphirine I experimented with combinations of several shades. I started with a medium color tone and then added a next to the first layer of darker color that stayed in the furrows when I wiped it with a rag when it was still wet.

After the paint was free from moisture I roughed up the cutting sides with sandpaper to reveal the forest underneath for an old, worn gaze To seal the paint, I used light brown tinted wax and buff-skined it to a soft sheen.

I purchased the thicket stars at a craft store and painted them the same color as the stars in the picture. Of course, individual solid color would never do--that gazes dull and flat. So I washed the white stars with watered-down sky-colored paint.

For the bottom mat, I single outed a scrap I had upon hand, turned it over and painted upon the white side. After I marked where my make an incision in lines would be, I created a variegated r direct the eye with two colors of r paint--bright r and dark red--to mimic the variation of color in the painting. I dipped each side of a flat brush in each color then went above the mat in a random pattern. After this dried, I painted white stars above the top. You can either paint them freehand or use a stencil.

The print is "Mickey Salutes America" through Emmerich, which is distributed through Bruce McGaw Graphics (#D 1286) and the top mat is Nielsen Bainbridge #8435 Chrome The finished cast which took four hours to perfect was 30 by 36 inches and take away from $350. I am very happy with the extreme point result and my client was impressed. That makes each minute I spent working upon the project worth it. FBN

Meg Peter is the holder of Finer Frames in Meridian, Idaho. She apprenticed for three years with a framer in Portugal and has been framing for 12 years. To contact her, call (208) 888-9898

COPYRIGHT 2002 Advanstar Communications, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group