Finishing, mounting and presenting

Which is a rather cryptic title for a blog post.

But what I mean by this is how you actually present your work.

So, most of what I do is two dimensional. Sometimes, but if I am honest rarely now, I produce a 'traditional' quilt with bound edges and a hanging sleeve (there is a whole piece to be done on hanging sleeves!) but more and more, and especially because I tend to use fragile papers, my work is intended to be framed and hung behind glass.

Which of course can make the whole thing a bit pricy!

Of course for special pieces I will shell out for a commissioned frame and mount.

However, more and more, and particularly for the smaller pieces that make up the bulk of the work that I sell, I start with commercially available frames and mounts.

My go to store for these items is The Range. There is one here in Milton Keynes and one in Gosport, my real home.  (If you are interested, I have just checked the website and they are all over the UK except Northern Ireland).  Their wooden frames are, in my opinion, pretty stylish.

I always keep a huge stock of their mounts in the studio, and now when I am making a smaller piece often have the mount in mind from the get go.

 The range of sizes is limited and the colours are cream and white, but for the most part that is what I want anyway (sometimes I will paint the lip of a double mount with acrylic for added interest).

Which reminds me, The Range is pretty good for artist materials too.  It's not a specialist store but I often prefer it to Hobby Craft if I need basic acrylic paints in a hurry.

They have also got (very) basic haberdashery but no where beats IKEA for calico on the roll.

And when I started these pieces, that was what I had in mind - mounts.

But then my lovely friend Rob commented that he thought that perhaps I could try a different way of mounting this little series - showing the edges.

Now his original idea was that I should show all the layers - these are, after all, technically mini quilts. But I had not started out this way so the felt and the calico backing were rough old scraps.  So, I bottled out.

I did however keep the edges of the organza and mounted the whole piece onto rag paper.

These are really experimental sketches for 'Transformation' - the exhibition I am participating in later in the year. But this has got me thinking.

What is your solution for presenting work?