Present Your Art Perfectly ~ Interview with Johanna Moore

By Carolyn Edlund

Johanna Moore and partner David Keef own Artifacts in Farmingdale, Maine. Their shingle reads “Gilders, Frame Makers and Purveyors of Fine Art”.  Johanna agreed to speak with us about her business, and how she works with fine artists to enhance and present their work in the best possible way.

AS:  Could you tell us how you got started in your business, and describe the different types of work that you do?

JM: When we moved back to Maine after I was graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia, I worked in a Portland art supply store which also provided a high quality picture framing service. It was at this job that I learned the rudiments of picture framing design and joinery.  David had been working for my father in his antiques business so, in 1990, we decided to open a store in what is now called the Arts District.   I took my background in faux finishing, gilding and mural painting, which I started practicing while in Philadelphia working my way through college, and added it to the picture framing service which we offered in addition to selling antiques in the gallery.  (I learned scene painting skills on the job working under an accomplished scene painter, and for faux finishes I learned a lot from the Isabel O’Neil painting studio.  For gilding, I took some initial gilding seminars through the Society of Gilders).

We quickly gained a reputation for our custom designed hand-crafted picture frames.  We work with artists, collectors, museums, and designers.   Twenty years ago our shop sold European antiques, fine art and mid-century design.  We narrowed our focus to antique fine art to compliment our framing services.  Our frames are made with traditional techniques:  hand-carving, traditional gilding,  painting or staining custom  finishes.  Our designs are historic, contemporary, or original.

AS:  In your opinion, what are the biggest mistakes emerging artists make in presenting their work?

JM: In my experience, I have seen some emerging artists interested in producing their artwork and, once completed, presenting their work gets ignored.  Often they choose frames that are both cheap and cheaply made, or frames that are too skinny or visually crowd the artwork. They choose matting colors which destroy any chance of a viewer actually being able to see their work.

I always try to educate artists in the importance of presentation.  It doesn’t matter if an artist’s work is portraits of Zombies or paintings of fields of flowers, if it’s not presented professionally and in a way which draws the viewer into it, then very few people will notice it.

AS:  What elements are most crucial in choosing or designing a frame for a work of art? How do you work with an artist on presentation?

JM: When we work with an artist preparing a frame design for an exhibit the factors we think about are:

• Subject -  Portraiture can take grand ornate broad frames or simple austere contemporary floaters.  Abstract contemporary paintings on canvas work well in platform frames, floaters, or even no frame at all.
• Technique -  Surface texture, assemblage, depth. A still life painting by Tina Ingraham may not look right in the same frame we would choose for an encaustic painting by Willa Vennema.
• Palette – we always look at the overall tone of a painting.  Is it warm, cool, monochromatic?  A frame color can make or break the finished presentation.  We often ask the artist if they want to push one color over another in their painting and use their ideas to get the right color in the frame.  The color theory work of Josef Albers is a great reference for how we work with this aspect of frame design.
• Size/depth -  a small painting might be best presented in a wide frame to give it enough breathing room between its edges and the wall on which it hangs.  A very large painting can be edged in a narrow frame which acts more as a protective clean-lined edge.

One example of our approach to design was when we made the frames for an exhibit by miniaturist Mary Hart for her “Lexicon” series of diptychs.  Each painting was 1” to 2” square.  There were 14 framed diptychs in all to be installed into a gallery with large wall space.  We needed to frame them in a way which kept them precious, but helped them not become engulfed by the whiteness of the walls.  We decided to frame them with the same uniform outside dimension in a floater frame we developed which made them look like pages from a book.  We produced a patina over aluminum leaf which was a warm tarnished finish that I worked to create by looking at some shadow colors in Mary’s paintings.

By combining all of these factors we try to achieve balance.  I feel we are most successful when a viewer comments on the frame only after they have commented on the painting—if they make no comment about the frame we feel we’ve totally succeeded .  Your readers can see some of our design projects on our web log.