Inside-Outside-In...

Gourd Fest   watercolor   8 x 12

Most of the time, I advocate painting and drawing from the inside-out. This whole process delays boundaries.....form follows function. This notion has also been touted as a way to design homes according to the owner's activities and preferences.

The opposite tack is to set limitations ahead of time. I have always associated this plan with illustration and design. Setting and knowing your boundaries comes first. Card design, for example is almost always a 7 x 5 vertical format. You can be creative, but your creative impulses must fit inside the boundaries. Same with framing. I have a myriad of frames that are the most unusual of sizes......all because the cropping of said painting was the preference.

It is always more economical to use standard sized frames that follow the harmonizing golden mean ratio of length to width. Ho hum. That standard rectangle looks pretty boring after a while. Occasionally I will pick up a vintage frame....only if well constructed and has an aesthetic that I enjoy. No oak. No gold. No metal. I prefer dinged up pine, frames with paint that is not perfect, and, of course, the hand carved and raw looking frames from Mexico. Painting with a particular frame in mind is difficult, as the boundaries are set in advance, including those of the mat board....no skimpy stuff either. Such was the case with "Gourd Fest". It was designed to fit into hand-carved Mexican frame and, as far as I am concerned, pleasingly echoed the shapes and rhythms of the gourds.

All who saw it loved the combination. Except one......an artist and framer himself who said he had never seen such an atrocious combination....ever. I guess it's like getting a haircut. When changing beauticians, the current is always shocked at the horrors perpetrated by the former.

I like the rhythm of "Gourd Fest". I also like the rhythms in the framing as well. Of course, you can change it if you wish. Individual aesthetics. "Gourd Fest" can be seen this Friday evening at the ASA Studio, located on the third floor of the Summit Artspace Building, 140 E. Market Street in Akron. Our studio will be open during the opening of "Kaleidoscope 2009" from 6-8 pm in the Taylor Gallery on the first floor. Check out that Mexican frame. Let me know what you think.