I was honored to make the frame for this beautiful signed print of “Daybreak” by the English artist @fredphillipsartist. His website says “His atmospheric paintings are like half-remembered dream images, glimpsed briefly as we awaken”, and here we see sunrise slowly warming the color of the cloudy sky over this whimsical villa overlooking a walled maze.
My client picked a charcoal gray stained maple frame. It creates depth by drawing our eye to the warmer, more distant cloud layer while the peach color of the maple peeking through brings out the even more distant sunrise. A double cotton mat and a sheet of UV filtering anti-reflection glass completes the look.
Maple is naturally light, but that means a dark stain can show its true color, but it’s grain still shows through because its hard, smooth surface is less absorbent and porous than other species. I love the look of lightly sanding back the charcoal stain to reveal the grain and warm color of the maple beneath. When finishing my decorative hardwoods, I feel like my job is just to accentuate what’s already there.
