You are welcome. Hope all is well and keep on painting.

Hi Pat and thanks so much for this! I love that even in the few comments on this so far, there’s a complete range of opinions and personal preferences! I think I’ll always go for the plain and simple approach for displaying my work in exhibitions. I think I’ll keep the ornate frames and use them photograph paintings in to show people the differences a frame can make in case it helps inform a decision. I do like the ornate frames when they’re against a strongly coloured (preferably dark!) background wall. I suppose going forwards, this exercise is just going to make me much more open minded about the possibilities of framing and I’m going to try to be much more flexible in my opinions as its obvious that what’s right for one person, isn’t necessarily right for every person! Thanks so much Pat

Thanks so much for this Tim, really nice to get your reaction on these. Even from the few comments that I’ve received so far it’s obvious that this is very much down to personal taste! As you say, for any exhibitions where I’m showing multiple paintings, I think I’m always going to go for the plain and simple approach. Aside from making the display look a little more coherent, it’s also much easier to organise the hang when the dimensions of the frames are consistent.

I to get the sell the sizzle approach, and I definitely think that a lot of people would pay more for the more ornate frames. Where I think these do come into their own is when you’re hanging on a strong coloured wall. We’ve got a dark blue wall at home and the gold frames against the blue do look a little bit special! Thanks so much Tim!

Thanks so much for this, really interesting to get your reactions and understand your thinking on this. I’ve always shied away from a black frame, I thought that it might be too harsh and too strong a contrast for my paintings to be able to cope with, but maybe I should give it a try one day! I’m with you on the white of the mount. I spent a lot of time a few years ago with a whole test pack of different shades/intensities of white mounts and eventually went for one called ‘snow white’ which is all I use now. Of the more ornate frames, I also prefer the one with the fabric inlay. Both of the ornate frames were bought second hand and I don’t really want to have to spend my time sourcing second hand frames all of the time, but hopefully it might be nice to demonstrate to people the differences the frame can make.

Hi Edo and thanks so much for this. Good to know that Nice and Simple approach works for you! It’s still the way that I’m likely to frame most of my paintings for exhibition or sale – but I’ve enjoyed seeing the options and even from the few responses I’ve had so far, it’s down to each individuals personal preferences! As for the Matt cutter, if I ever manage to get it set up properly, maybe I’ll try to do a little video of it in action!

However, for my living room, the ornate frames really add some WOW factor. This is just my opinion, but I would pay considerably more for the same painting in the more ornate frames than in the more plain one. Why? They just seem to add more finish and a richer aura to the painting. I mean, hey, this is original art – high-end stuff. Especially thst last frame really makes your painting look like it’s from a famous artist, and that it came from a really high-end gallery. I think you are definitely on to something here.

When I used to have my outdoor products manufacturing company, my top salesperson always told me – “sell the sizzle.” That referred to the classic food ad – where you can almost smell that steak. Those fancy frames give your painting more sizzle.

Regards Edo