Opinions Wanted Aluminium & Wood Paintings(?) Needing UV Protection

[nastistoic]

So I had a client I've worked with before recently email me about archiving some art he bought that includes a series of 'wooden screenprintings' and an aluminum sublimation print as well. I was able to see them this morning and I'm having him collect some info from the artist about the materials before I put a quote together but he's committed to making sure these are all UV protected. It's easy for me to throw these into a frame and get a sheet of glass on them but admittedly I'm dumbfounded on how to do this in a way that doesn't look ridiculous. They all have a very rustic look and I just can't figure out a way to do the art itself justice in terms of frame/appearance while also putting a layer of glazing over it.

The wood art does not seem to have any varnish or protection from UV as it exists currently and I cannot tell what type of paint was used(still a bit new to this - bear with me lol). Two of the wood prints are confirmed as maple, I believe the others are pine but am not 100% at this time. The information I'm given for the aluminium is "Printed dye sublimation". I should have more info any minute now, will update as I make progress.

Any help/advice/ideas or even similar projects that may provide some inspiration would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Shayla]

Hi, nastistoic. Are you able to post photos of the wood art? Thickness and overall size might also be helpful to know.

 

[nastistoic]

Hi, nastistoic. Are you able to post photos of the wood art? Thickness and overall size might also be helpful to know.

Thank you Shayla - It turns out I misunderstood as I thought this was all from one artist but such does not seem to be the case. I have attached a photo of the aluminium print he sent me, size is technically 24x24 although the picture from the artist shows a different ratio(18x24 I believe - UGH why can't artists just have normal pictures of ALL their art?!). It is essentially identical just wider and stretched a bit further horizontally(sounds awful but if anything, it looks a bit more impressive than the attached pic). Note also that the attached pic doesn't really capture the brightness of some of the colors/tones.

I've identified one of the other prints and may have even framed some of his paper posters before, description and link to an image is below. Size is 18x24. It looks like 1/4" pine, I can also confirm from seeing the work earlier today that all of the wood prints are essentially identical in thickness.

"18x24. Hand-screened by Rebolloso Studio. Signed & numbered Artist Edition.
*Available on both heavy cover weight white paper, and as a variant on 1/4" pine."

https://billyperkins.bigcartel.com/product/widespread-panic-arkansas-2015

Thanks for taking a look Shayla, I will post more here as it is sent over to me. Also please bear with me as I am considerably color vision deficient - if you're referencing any colors from the work itself it will really help me if you can also identify where I should be looking(i.e. 'red train', etc). Also if the train is not red please go easy on me lol!

 

[Prospero]

UV issues aside, if you can scratch/dent/otherwise damage it then glaze it. I doubt it could be repaired. Oil paintings can
be restored 'til the cows come home but a aluminum panel should maybe be treated like a paper item.

I once framed a pyrographic (?) picture done on a circular beech panel. Image is burnt in and tinted with watercolor paint.
The burnt bits won't fade and the paint is quite permanent, but the major problem with wood is chemical reaction with the
atmosphere. My one has darkened quite a bit. It isn't light exposure.
Nothing much you can do to prevent this from the framing end. If the artist has varnished the wood, that might help.

 

[Shayla]

Frame ideas for the wood:

Roma 156069, 165045 or 1822086. Nurre Caxton 62104 or 3924. LJ 245152 or 452100 (you could rip down the outside of the latter, to make it narrower). Fotiou 5830DW or 5831DW. Jayeness Moulding # J305130 (might be a Universal? Don't know, and they're closed this evening. Cool frame, though.) Direct Moulding 33803 has a cool thorny vine pattern, too. Or you could get a frame that's larger than the wood piece in both directions and float it inside, with space showing all around. That would need one piece of glazing at the front, and another behind, to which the wood is affixed, with spacers between. (Or you could just frame them in Nielsen 12-21, with Museum glass, spacers and Wall Buddies).

 

[nastistoic]

Frame ideas for the wood:

Roma 156069, 165045 or 1822086. Nurre Caxton 62104 or 3924. LJ 245152 or 452100 (you could rip down the outside of the latter, to make it narrower). Fotiou 5830DW or 5831DW. Jayeness Moulding # J305130 (might be a Universal? Don't know, and they're closed this evening. Cool frame, though.) Direct Moulding 33803 has a cool thorny vine pattern, too. Or you could get a frame that's larger than the wood piece in both directions and float it inside, with space showing all around. That would need one piece of glazing at the front, and another behind, to which the wood is affixed, with spacers between. (Or you could just frame them in Nielsen 12-21, with Museum glass, spacers and Wall Buddies).

Shayla this is very impressive. It would've taken me days to come up with this list and your descriptions really help me to understand the different approaches I can possibly take, thank you.

 

[Shayla]

Happy to help. I just brought up the link, ran over to the frame wall, and grabbed down what looked good. I hope it turns out great.

 

[Jim Miller]

Regardless of sensitivity to visible light and invisible UV, glazing and a backing provide a closed framing package, which provides several benefits that may be more important than protection from radiation, such as these:

1. Slows the rate of environmental change and insulates the contents of the frame from rapid/radical temperature or humidity variations, which reduces the frequency and severity of normal expansion/contraction cycles.

2. Keeps out dust, debris, insects

3. Seals out airborne chemical contaminants, such as cooking oils, exhaust fumes and other products of combustion.

4. Reduces the chances of mechanical damage, such as abrasion from routine surface cleaning, scratches and other accidental damage.

For the best visual quality, I suggest using anti-reflection glass or acrylic. Generous spacers are recommended, too.

 

[Shayla]

It's a good idea to let them know that, even with the best glazing, items can still fade over time. Aside from UV light, which good glass helps to deflect, there's all the other light in the spectrum. Heat can cause fading, as can the quality of the medium. If these are printed in dye-based ink, they'll be prone to fading faster than if done with pigment-based ink. Also, whether or not the wood was properly sealed before the art was applied will affect how that ages. Our kids gave us a big photo printed directly onto wood five years ago, which is now fading, while at the same time, the wood acids are coloring through. Even paper mounted to wood can be affected, if the wood wasn't sealed first. At that price point, who knows how they were made, and it's good for them to know this ahead of time, so they aren't surprised with later changes, even with glazing. This is the sort of thing where you can either protect it as well as possible, (which is what most folks come to us to do), or you can leave glazing off and buy another if it fades in a couple of years. (Provided the company that made them is still doing so, which isn't always a given).

Who was it who said, 'Now that I've thoroughly confused you...'? lol.....

Another idea: Have them paint a rectangle of wall black and hang some wood ones on it, then put one large frame out around the whole thing, covering the edges of the paint rectangle. You'd need to hang it flush to the wall, (or at least flat, like with security hangers or z-bar). This could be done with or without glazing. Picture Woods and Vermont Hardwoods both make wooden depth spacers, which could be used to hold glass or acrylic in the frame. This way, it would also look like they were floating, especially if they used Museum-finished glazing. At thirty bucks a pop for the prints, I'm guessing they wouldn't, but people are surprising.

 

[nastistoic]

UV issues aside, if you can scratch/dent/otherwise damage it then glaze it. I doubt it could be repaired. Oil paintings can
be restored 'til the cows come home but a aluminum panel should maybe be treated like a paper item.

I once framed a pyrographic (?) picture done on a circular beech panel. Image is burnt in and tinted with watercolor paint.
The burnt bits won't fade and the paint is quite permanent, but the major problem with wood is chemical reaction with the
atmosphere. My one has darkened quite a bit. It isn't light exposure.
Nothing much you can do to prevent this from the framing end. If the artist has varnished the wood, that might help.

Prospero this is what I feared but was in denial. I definitely think his expectations may be off the mark.

 

[nastistoic]

It's a good idea to let them know that, even with the best glazing, items can still fade over time. Aside from UV light, which good glass helps to deflect, there's all the other light in the spectrum. Heat can cause fading, as can the quality of the medium. If these are printed in dye-based ink, they'll be prone to fading faster than if done with pigment-based ink. Also, whether or not the wood was properly sealed before the art was applied will affect how that ages. Our kids gave us a big photo printed directly onto wood five years ago, which is now fading, while at the same time, the wood acids are coloring through. Even paper mounted to wood can be affected, if the wood wasn't sealed first. At that price point, who knows how they were made, and it's good for them to know this ahead of time, so they aren't surprised with later changes, even with glazing. This is the sort of thing where you can either protect it as well as possible, (which is what most folks come to us to do), or you can leave glazing off and buy another if it fades in a couple of years. (Provided the company that made them is still doing so, which isn't always a given).

Who was it who said, 'Now that I've thoroughly confused you...'? lol.....

Another idea: Have them paint a rectangle of wall black and hang some wood ones on it, then put one large frame out around the whole thing, covering the edges of the paint rectangle. You'd need to hang it flush to the wall, (or at least flat, like with security hangers or z-bar). This could be done with or without glazing. Picture Woods and Vermont Hardwoods both make wooden depth spacers, which could be used to hold glass or acrylic in the frame. This way, it would also look like they were floating, especially if they used Museum-finished glazing. At thirty bucks a pop for the prints, I'm guessing they wouldn't, but people are surprising.

Haha the wood is actually more expensive(he opted to not to get the paper version lol - would've already had that one framed and hung happily if he would've gone for the paper variant). I've always been taught that the art was sacrosanct and post-production attempts to protect the art, such as a coat of varnish, would more or less trigger the next apocalypse. I don't intend to deliver but am somewhat expecting this request....anyone ever had such a request and acted upon it? I've worked with some conservationists at the University here and they have all kinds of treatments they'll do to wood museum pieces that are more robust than anything I can/would do, and maybe could seriously advise him how to proceed, but even then it still seems crazy to even suggest it on my end!