The painting is about 2ft square and now, with that one of Phoebe I put up here a while ago, another that I did of Daile months ago, I have a requirement for about 8 or 9 metres of frame. I like the big bold gold stuff, and I went down to the local framing outlet in the Hyperdome shopping centre to check out what they had. They had little pieces of frame velcro'd to the wall, and one of them was just about big enough, and markedly more so than most of the rest. I asked the (slightly curt) shop assistant how much it would cost for about 10 metres. He said that they don't sell the framimg material, they sell finished frames. OK I said, how much for a frame that's about 600mm square inside? He said about $425! I'd be looking at nearly a grand!
So I decided to make some. At first I figured I'd use the CNC router, but I don't actually have a 3D software package (that I know how to use) yet. I did download and play with Alibre recently on the recommend of my brother Nick, but I've already bought a package a few months ago that ought to have been perfect for it called 'BobCad'. I can't get my head around it at all. Not in the least bit intuitive in the way it works, unlike AutoCAD, which I taught myself in 2D without reading any books or even the help file.
So in the absence of that option, I fell back on a technique I learned when I was in my early 20's at art college. Plaster pulling.
You cut out a template of a sectional outline of the shape you're after, and build a jig around it to hold it perpendicular to the edge of your bench. Then you put a bit of clay under the build of the form, and some nails to stop the plaster form from sliding along the bench as the profile bites it, and off you go.
This is the resultant profile.
Next is to make a silicone jacket mould of it, then cut some strips of standard timber and embed that into the mould with urethane resin. Once I've got the mould, I'll be able to make any frame size up to about 48" square... for a few bucks really.
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