Some of My Favorite Ready-Made Frames

Every artist wants their work to look good. And here is a way to do it if you are on a budget.*

*"Budget" is a nicer word than "cheap and lazy" like, er . . . me.

I like a ready-made frame. I tend to paint on "standard size" canvas in order to fit my work into a ready-made frame.

Some standard sizes below:

I have gotten a lot of my frames from JFM.

The purpose of a frame is to visually separate the painting from the wall it is hanging on.

I like a wide gold frame - at least 4" wide to do this - just because I paint in a classical style.

Sometimes I choose a frame by placing my painting in a frame in Photoshop. I like to "try it on" before I buy if possible. Like this recent reject below:

I'll have to keep trying "Doris 'Granny D' Haddock" in frames until I find one I like....maybe something with a touch of silver perhaps?

There are many framers and frame companies - but fast, elegant and relatively inexpensive appeals to me.

How I Manage Time - Sometimes

Sometimes I get really really "stuck."

I've been working on a portrait and am not quite sure that I am ready to pick up my brush and find that "elusive" likeness today.

So I switch gears - it's almost like a mini-vacation.

I usually have a stack of unfinished landscape "sketches" laying around the studio - just waiting for me to "pull it all together." Today is cold and snowy and I originally made this oil sketch on a delightfully warm day. When this happens in hot weather, I tend to grab a Fall or Winter scene - go figure.

This is why you're seeing me post landscapes just now:

Ferry Beach, Maine

12" x 16" Oil on Canvas

So I finished this little beach scene I began 2+ years ago and framed it. I like a wide gold, old-fashioned frame for most of my works...they work for me.

"It is never too late to do what you might have done."

(My version of a quote from George Elliot)

A note about my frames:

Since I tend to buy or stretch my canvasses to standard sizes, I find that I can use ready-made frames. I have had good luck with JFM Frames.