framing

happy hump day!

rather than hopping off the desk multiple times to accept deliveries, i took the day off today to take care of a few things around the apartment and accept delivery for our new credenza from bludot, dip-dyed stools from serena & lily, and planters from terrain. 

for the last few months, we've been making weekly trips to the goodwill to donate clothes and shoes, and to the strand to donate books, and slowly accumulating furniture and plants. with the exception of dining table chairs which we still haven't decided on, i think we are finally done with furniture for the living space. in fact, after visiting our neighbors in 11BC the other night, i think we have far more pieces than them, and need to be careful about keeping the space open.

now, onto the walls! :)

we have three pieces which i want to get framed. the first is a print called "festival on south street 1930" by kuo hsueh-hu (郭雪湖). it is a colorful depiction of taipei’s famous dihua street (迪化街) during the lunar new year festival on south street (南街殷賑). i found the piece in a fun hakka blue shop on dihua street in march and kevin and i both fell in love with it instantly.

the other two pieces were paintings by my currently 95-year old grandmother. a few years ago, my grandmother sustained a few injuries in a series and as a result was feeling feeble and sad, and beginning to pull away from her painting, dancing, and mahjong activities. in an attempt to motivate her to resume those activities and regain confidence in her own health, i asked her to paint me two paintings that i could hang up in my home. she seemed reluctant at first, but upon my next visit to taiwan (kevin and my first trip back together) in december 2012, she proudly presented me with three gorgeous paintings! i will describe them and their significance in a separate post.

so i spent this afternoon looking at frames and mattes, and speaking with custom framing specialists at michaels on 22nd street and aifriedman on 18th st. i have framed just two pieces before, and basically just picked a simple frame and dropped them off at a framing shop in the west village years ago. it was amazing to speak with the custom framing specialist, lionel, at aifriendman. previously, lionel had worked at different galleries in the city, and still works to set up shows for friends and artists. his knowledge about the different mounting techniques and frames was extensive, and i respected the advice he offered and his aesthetic abilities.

in the end, i am thinking of going with a thicker white beveled-edge matte with a thin walnut frame and uv protection glass for the kuo piece, and a light taupe silk matte with a wooden frame with gold detailing made in france for the pieces by my grandmother. the kuo piece will go above the new credenza in the living room, which is flooded with southern light throughout the day, so without the uv protective coated glass, the print would inevitably fade. the other two pieces will go in our bedroom, which has northern light and blackout shades, so it shouldn't need the uv glass in this apartment.

price tag? ridiculous, but hey, you only do it once right?