Custom Framing
The frameshop at Donna Child Fine Art specializes in conservation framing, using top quality materials with special attention paid to design and flawless craftsmanship. We maintain the highest quality standards from start to finish, from selection to completion your project is handled with the greatest care. No matter what you are framing we ensure complete satisfaction and you know it will be preserved for generations.
Every member of the Donna Child Fine Art team is very creative, extensively trained and highly experienced in the art industry. We will assist you with your choices, advising you on the best way to preserve your art in as near original condition as possible and working with you to put together a framing design as unique as you are.
Click HERE for great ideas from Donna Child Fine Art on how to create a display wall of your own framed artwork.
CUSTOM FRAMING SERVICES
- Conservation custom framing for art, photographs, documents, memorabilia or collectables
- Shadow boxes & object framing
- Stretching for canvases, needlepoint, batik and tapestry
- Canvas transfers
- Custom mirrors – with your mirror or ours
- Free quotes
MOULDING SUPPLIERS
Larson-Juhl
Larson-Juhl has been making beautiful custom framing materials for well over 100 years. Their designers and manufacturing teams work hand-in-hand to bring you enduring frame designs in all of the popular home furnishing styles. They are devoted to bringing you fresh choices in timeless classics as well as new, innovative styles. Larson-Juhl also cares about the world we live in. They are the first custom framing manufacturer to offer environmentally friendly FSC* and PEFC** certified products.
Roma Moulding
Roma’s designs have become the company’s trademark. Their passion and relentless pursuit of style and excellence has fashioned the “Made in Italy” legacy for which Roma is recognized industry wide. At Roma, we take great care and pride in knowing that our mouldings are made using only woods from active reforestation programs. Our suppliers adhere to strict guidelines and use reclaimed wood when appropriate. In addition, we also use recycled and environmentally friendly packaging materials whenever possible.
Fotiou
Since its founding in 1972, Fotiou Frames has come to be recognized for its unrivaled selection, superior customer service and innovative design. They continue to search the world for new, distinctive and original designs that will help inspire new framing ideas. At the same time they are ever vigilant to ensure the quality of the product delivered.
*FSC® – (Forest Stewardship Council™)
**PEFC™ – (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes)
Custom Framing Terminology
Moulding
The moulding or frame is generally the biggest expense in any custom framing job. At Donna Child Fine Art we work only with manufacturers that match our own high standards. Our selection is very large, but nothing to be intimidated by. We are experts and will help guide you to the right framing to show off your art and fit your style. Read more about our suppliers above.
Matting
Matting is the coloured paperboard material that is used to create a transition from the picture to the frame. It also prevents the glass from being in direct contact with the artwork. Different temperatures between the inside and outside of the frame can cause condensation to build up inside the frame, causing the artwork to stick to the glass and potentially allow the growth of mould or bacterial parasites. The space provided by matting allows the moisture to settle safely on the glass. In the absence of matting, acrylic spacers are a fair alternative.
Ordinary matboard is pulp based and contains acids and lignins that over time will damage the artwork they come into contact with. Donna Child Fine Art offers only conservation quality artboards from Artique and Bainbridge – which are free of all acids, lignins and other impurities. Our conservation matboards provide a range of over 300 colours of 100% virgin alpha-cellulose paper surface matboards, that are Alkaline pH buffered, give smooth, pristine bevels and consistent fade and bleed resistant colours.
We also have a selection of classically elegant fabric mats in textures such as suede, silk and linen along with updated metallic in rice paper finishes and very trend-forward distressed looks. We also offer 8-Ply matboards, that are increasing in popularity. Their double thickness gives a bold, contemporary presentation to your photographs and other paper art.
Glazing (Glass)
All works of art on paper must be protected by glass to prevent damage from various elements in the environment. Ultraviolet rays are one of the most dangerous elements that your artwork can encounter. UV light will not only cause the colour of your artwork to fade to a mere shadow, but it will cause the materials themselves to begin to break down within the frame. At Donna Child Fine Art we exclusively use Tru Vue ® glazing products with Conservation Clear® Glass as our standard. It effectively blocks 99% of damaging UV rays, preserving the original look of your framed artwork.
Glass technology has undergone significant advances in the last 20 years. In addition to the introduction of UV protective coatings the framing industry has also found wonderful new solutions to the ongoing challenge of glare. While still available, traditional non-glare glass is very rarely used anymore. Tru Vue® Museum Glass® utilizes the same anti-reflective coating that optometrists have been offering patients for years. This glass gives so little reflection it’s almost invisible and has the same 99% UV protection as standard conservation glass.
For those times when the UV protection is less important but you still want that great “barely there” finish from the glass, we offer Tru Vue® UltraVue® which is a water white glass with the same anti-reflective coating, only 65% UV protection, and a lower price point than museum glass.
Hinging or Mounting
In conservation framing, the method of mounting or hinging is very important. The rule of thumb is that you always want to use a tape that is weaker than the paper, so that if a piece is jolted after it’s framed it is the tape that will tear, and not the art. It is also important to use only tapes or other adhesives that can be safely removed without causing any damage to the art. Hinging should be of acid-free materials and the method will vary depending on the item being framed. At Donna Child Fine Art we use only tried and tested methods and acid-free materials to display and protect your artwork.
Mounting Board or Backing
The back of your framed project is completed with Archival Foamcore, created especially for framing with a 100% cotton rag surface. Donna Child Fine Art also offers drymounting, which although non-conservation, it is a way to keep less valuable posters or photographs looking beautiful and flat for as long as you have them. This is not a way to smooth out original art that is inherently very rippled, such as watercolours or children’s paintings as it is permanent. For this reason it is also not something recommended for any print that will be devalued by permanent alteration from its original state.
Shadow Boxes
Some of the most interesting things that come into the Donna Child Fine Art frame shop are the items that aren’t traditional “artwork”; three dimensional objects that require more creative framing solutions. Some of the more interesting objects we’ve framed over the years include a girdle, a canoe paddle, the grill of a Mercedes-Benz, as well as numerous war medals and related mementoes and more hockey jerseys than we can count.
Each of these is unique and interesting and we treat all of them as the treasures that they are to their owners. Soft goods like doilies, handkerchiefs and baby gowns as well as jerseys are carefully sewn onto the matboard, allowing them to sit artfully and securely but completely intact and can be easily removed.
Hard items such as medals, LP’s, tea cups and pocket watches are securely adhered with a minimal amount of silicone which provides a strong bond and yet is fully removable if needed.
