Lifestyle
University Daily Kansan / Thursday, November 2, 1989
9
Arlene Harriman attaches wire to the back of a painting at Roy's Framing and Gallery. Framing is one step in displaying art.
Picture perfect
These days, more people are finding that art can transform drab, bare walls into show places. But finding the perfect piece of art is the first step. Using art to its best advantage is just that — an art, said Roy Taylor of Roy's Framing and Gallery, 1410 Kaskid Drive.
"Every piece is a character within itself," he said. "Putting art together is more in the realm of interior design."
Jeff Ritz of Art Frames, 912 Illinois, agreed.
"Customers must realize that a piece that looks great in a gallery might not go with their homes," he said. "There are many considerations here."
Professionals such as Taylor try to assist the customer with problems, one piece at a time. Taylor, whose gallery does custom framing, takes several things into consideration in the step-by-step procedure of displaying art to its best advantage.
The matting matters
The first step is finding a mat for the piece. A mat borders the piece to serve as a contrast between the art and the frame. The colors and design of the piece are vital in this step. The colors in the mat should correspond to the primary subject colors and enhance the design.
Mat samples help Taylor and the customer choose the best colors for the piece. Both warm and cool tones are considered, and double and triple mats are sometimes used, he said.
The same widths in mats should be avoided, Taylor said. This draws too much attention from the piece itself. In double and triple
mats, the widths of the frame and the outside mat should also differ for the same reason. Warm and cool tones together in a mat are discouraged as well.
Although Taylor offers suggestions, he said customer input was important.
"Paying for this is going to be painful enough. You may as well get involved in it and have fun," he said jokingly. The price of matting and framing a piece can vary from $20 to $300.
Framing for fashion
The next step is framing the piece.
"We would be interested in knowing if it will be used in the home or office, because each take different approaches," Taylor said. "At home you relax, kick your shoes off — you want a quieter, more subtle fashion. In the office, it's for others as well as you. You may want it a little flasher."
He said art that was framed well would draw attention to the piece, not the frame. He compared the frame to an umpire in a baseball game.
"If you don't really think about him, he probably did a good job," he said. "But if you notice him a lot, he's not doing what he should or he's doing too much."
When the final options are chosen, Taylor places two sample mats and frames at opposite corners of the piece. The customer stands away from the piece and covers one eye in order to see how the different mats look with the piece.
After the art is framed successfully, hanging it is another matter, Ritz said. Other elements must be taken into consideration.
Getting the hang of it
Story by Holly Lawton Photos by Stacey Gore
lighting is the most important aspect in hanging a piece of art, he said, especially if it is covered with glass.
"If there's too much light, it appears like you're looking in a mirror and you can see everything behind you," Ritz said. "You have to consider how technical a piece is. If there's a lot of detail, you can obliterate it by using the wrong type of glass in bad lighting."
Ritz suggested glass with no glare or with ontic covering if lighting was a problem.
Another consideration is how other people will view the piece, he said. It should hang at a five-and-a-half foot level so nobody has to look far up or down the wall to see it well.
Cherishing your art
Ritz stressed that art should be rotated periodically throughout a home for several reasons.
"For example, in the kitchen you've got lots of bad elements — smoke, oil spatterings, lots of dampness and dirt," he said. "The sun can also raise hell with prints and certain paintings no matter where they are."
"But really it's kind of exciting to have different pieces in different places. Try the bedroom."
Ritz also said that cleaning art was a necessity that many people didn't think about.
"Art needs to be treated like anything else in the house," he said. "Also wash the wall behind them, or you'll get lots of nice white squares and blocks all over your walls."
Most importantly, Ritz advised art customers to take full advantage of the benefits art could bring to their homes.
"People are afraid to treat their house like a museum, but they should."
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