Jewel case frames prepared for lithographs

In a contemporary world increasingly pixilated by plasticity and supersaturated hues, black and white originals still possess the power to delight.  This framing project, for a long-time Studios client, showcases five of Al's "cinderella" stamp lithographs (the philatelic term for stamps not issued as postage).  Lithography is an 18th -century process from which original artworks are created.  The artist renders the desired image onto Bavarian limestone using a wax pencil (in Al's case, the wax pencil is sharpened by razor blade to a knife's edge!).  For a step-by-step behind-the-scenes look at the way print-maker and fellow-artist Wayne Kimball prints our Studio's original lithographs, visit A Pictorial Guide To Printing A Lithograph.

Capitalizing on the fact that the artworks are miniatures, these gilt frames draw the viewer into a glass-fronted, velvet-lined coffer where each lithograph is mounted on a raised platform.  Once gilded, the frames are antiqued.  Folds of the velvet lining surround the print, and dried flowers mounted below the print add something of nature's intricacy and color to the presentation.


For their size, these jewel-case mountings are probably the most complex and demanding of any of the custom frames produced by the Studios.  Each lithograph is mounted on rice-paper hinges in the manner of a floating-mat that preserves the value of the print and showcases the paper's deckle edge and the printer's chop.