What works as framed wall art?
From kimonos to flowers, almost anything can be framed,
Wall art doesn’t have to mean the printed, painted or photographic varieties. Framing offers the opportunity to turn just about anything into art.
Professional framing can be also used as a tool to conserve important or special items, such as heirloom clothing like baby booties, gloves, dresses or military regalia.
Only the size and your budget are the limits.
The costs are otherwise fairly comparative to regular framing, said Michael Turner, owner of El Framo, despite the extra work involved.
His framing business has seen everything from dried flowers to wedding veils and kimonos, boxing gloves to antique tapestries and rugs.
‘‘Most common would be your traditional cross stitch, tea towels of various sorts with messages or images on them, and rugby jerseys. Or sports jerseys generally but rugby jerseys in particular,’’ Turner said.
‘‘We have done a wedding veil and sometimes like military stuff, you’d get medals and photos and then we’ve done that with a guy’s flying cap. It’s quite common to do tapa cloths.’’
To help preserve textiles, professional framers use a grade of materials that’s above and beyond what you can buy at a shop.
‘‘We generally recommend using conservational glass which helps protect them from fading and we generally hand stitch them, mostly that’s what you do,’’ said Turner.
‘‘So it’s quite time-consuming. You’ve got to get somebody with a needle and thread to do it by hand.’’
The layman is unlikely to have considered how to fix their fabric object in place under glass. Professionals approach it so that an item is conserved.
‘‘Conservation framing dictates that you should be able to undo your work,’’ said Turner. ‘‘It’s less damaging than using glue or any sort of adhesive because it’s essentially reversible. It can be more or less returned to its original state.’’
If it’s an item you’re framing purely for decor, conservation is not so important. Hides, shells, inexpensive textiles and dried leaves and flowers are attractive options for this.
Otherwise, it is important that special archival glass and archival backing boards are used as they stay pH neutral for longer.
Once you have your textile or unusual object behind glass, what will make it last is how you care for it.
Most importantly, don’t hang your piece in direct sunlight.
‘‘The other thing that trips people up sometimes, particularly at certain times of the year, say in autumn or winter, on a cold morning and the living room’s been really cold over night and you throw open the curtains and the sun hits the frame on the wall,’’ said Turner.
‘‘It changes temperature really quickly and they can often sweat.
‘‘You often get moisture released and that can cause all sorts of problems.’’