Frames

The Frames

At glebepictureframes we have a passion for quality and style in our framing. That's why many of the mouldings you see here will not be available at most local custom framers. Because we deal with all of the major manufacturers and importers of picture frame mouldings in Australia, we can cast a discerning eye over their ranges and choose what we think is the best in the country.

But we recognise that picture framing is very much a matter of individual taste and our range of samples represents only a fraction of what's on the market. If you wish to match your new frame with something you already have or have seen elsewhere, we are well placed to find the same moulding. If it's been discontinued or if it's a hand-finished frame from another bespoke framer, we may even be able to copy the original.

"No Frame, No Life" - Piper Osment

So why frame something, anyway?

The concept of the picture frame can be described as the medium through which fine arts are merged with architecture and the decorative arts, and it must fulfil some or all of the following functions (not in any particular order!)

Protection of the Picture
Enable attachment to the wall
Enhance subject and colour scheme
Define the picture's perimeter
Focus the spectator's attention on the subject
Provide an area of transition between the real world & that of the picture
Create harmony with the surrounding interior decoration
Isolate the picture from a distracting background
It must exist as a pleasing ornamental object in its own right!

"Without Art, the crudeness of reality would make the World unbearable" - George Bernard Shaw

ONE MINUTE HISTORY OF FRAMING!

Frames, often themselves works of art, have been designed by artists, architects and ornamentalists, and have been executed by highly skilled wood-carvers, gilders and craftsmen through the centuries. Historically picture and frame are mutually dependent, the one incomplete without the other. The two parts were generally conceived as a single stylistic entity, like the architectural mouldings surrounding frescoes or inset pictures, or a tapestry with its interwoven border, a fusion which was commonplace in the Renaissance, when paintings and relief sculptures were integrated with architectural frames of wood or marble.

Many artworks from earlier times, however, have been separated from their original frames - and for a number of reasons. Of course pictures are more easily transported without their frames; they may be reframed by new owners as a signal of ownership or according to different tastes, or to suit prevailing styles of interior decoration, or they may be reframed in a standard house or gallery frame.

Into the twenty first century the variety and types of artwork has continued to increase, the diversity of style in interior design has continued to widen, and hence the range of picture frames available has expanded exponentially. At glebepictureframes we aim to have at our, and your, disposal frames to suit all types of artwork - contemporary, modern, retro, vintage, antique, ancient and just quirky!