Float Frame For A 3D Photograph

Watch this video to learn more about float frames and how we can use them to accentuate a piece of art.  In this video, we show examples of float frames as Tami shows the design of a custom float frame created for a photograph of the Grand Marais, MN harbor taken by our owner, Tami Phillippi.  She had an idea to embellish the photo with rocks, sticks, and found objects to add a 3D effect to the photo. Once all of the items adhered to the metal print, Tami added a resin coating to the piece. UPDATE: This photo is on display at ARTWORKS in Eagan through the month of October 2019. Go to their website for open hours. https://www.awe.mn

Watch our Video and You’ll Learn:

• You will learn about different options to consider when choosing a float-frame
• We will show you just some of the float frame options we have in our shop in Eagan.
• If you have questions about framing your painting, photo, or other items in a floating frame, give us a call at 651-405-0011 or stop by our store, Frame Minnesota, 1960 Cliff Lake Rd, #103, Eagan, MN 55122.

Here is the transcript of the Video:

Tami: Hi, this is Tami with Frame Minnesota in Eagan. We’re here at our shop today to show you a personal project that I’ve been working on for an upcoming show. I’m working on a photograph for the Eagan Art House Harvest of Art Show, and the goal of this video is really to show you a method of framing called float framing. It’s most often used in canvas paintings and photographs printed on canvas. The canvas float-frame is essentially an L-shaped frame that serves as a tray to hold the artwork. Here are a few of the samples that we have in the store. We’ve got lots of different colors. I bet we have 50 or 60 different colors and shapes and finishes of float frames, maybe more. Here’s a little photo that we have as a sample. I just want to show you kind of how it fits in there. It can be put in real close like that. We could move the painting toward the front. We could leave a little space around. That’s the most often what people like, is to leave a little bit of space around it.

I’ve also got a sample that I wanted to show you here of a piece that we have hanging in the store. This is a very simple treatment of an oil painting. The oil painting is by Nancy Wester, a local artist, customer, and a friend of mine. The painting is just simply placed inside the little frame, and that is used to hang it on the wall. Pretty simple. Now back to today’s project, I’m framing a photograph that I took in Grand Mere last summer. I took this photo on one of those really long days around the summer solstice where the sun seems to hang in the sky at sunset for just hours. I was inspired to create this 3-D effect after I saw an original painting by a local guy named Justin Strom. And he incorporated some large rocks on a very, very large piece and I just thought it was a cool idea. I don’t know if you can see that, but I gathered some rocks earlier this summer when I was up on Lake superior and glued them all down to the frame.

That took about three hours, but I enjoyed that. It was actually fun. I did a lot of it during an art group meeting last week. I knew I needed to make the rock shiny and so I applied a resin product called art resin that Justin told me about. Pretty happy with the results on the rock. And part of the process of applying the resin is that you go over it with a little butane torch to pop the bubbles on the resin, and that was fun. For the framing on this one, I decided to layer a couple of frames together to get the look that I wanted to accomplish. I’ve got this black frame right here. It’s a little float. And then I am going to put this other frame over the top. This top frame is Eiffel, and it has got a nice bronze finish that we thought looked really good with the photo.

Let me pop the photo in there. Oh, and people have asked about this little liner frame. The only reason that is in there is really just to push the photo a little bit closer to the front of the frame. I’ve got a high gloss resin on here, so you’re probably going to get a lot of glare on here, but that is how it’s going to work when t’s finished. Boop over to the top, and so you can see in there. I’ll leave a little bit of space around the piece. Got to glue it together. And I think it’s going to turn out really nice. At least I hope so. Hope you’ve enjoyed learning about my process and seeing how we put together a project. I’ll try to add a photo of the completed project later, but if you want to see the photograph live and in person, stop by the Eagan Art House Harvest of Art event on Saturday, September 7th from 2:00 to 7:00.

And then the painting, I guess it is almost a painting now, but the photograph will be on display locally after that. So stay tuned to our Facebook and or Instagram pages and I’ll post the location when I get it. As you can see, we love what we do here and we think we do it pretty well. If you have any projects like this, we’re here to help. Please call us today at 651-405-0011 or visit our website anytime at frameminnesota.com, and let us know what we can do for you. Thank you. Tami at Frame Minnesota signing off.

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