As you might know from my previous posts three of my physical paintings are living in a cafe in Saranda, Albania at the moment (here's the post about them).
They already look very nice there on the wall, but they are not yet framed like all the other artworks. So during our time here in Greece one of my missions was to go look for some nice frames.
And luckily I didn't even have to look far!
Very close to where we live, right next to the supermarket in a little town, there is a shop that sells not only frames but also paintings and prints.
It's quite a big store actually with workshop in the back where they put together the frames. They told me they sell artworks and frames all over Greece. How lucky that they happen to have their main store only 15 minutes from where I chose to stay for a month ^^
I had been there last week already to get a feel for what they offer, and yesterday I decided to finally make a choice and order two frames.
Very friendly people there in the store (from what I understand it's a man and his two daughters who own the shop) and they all spoke very good English so it was an easy to communicate and while I was waiting we had a nice conversation about art :-)
I've learned that frames usually cover a tiny bit of the edge of a painting (to prevent it from falling out). The problem with my paintings is that I've painted right until the edge and I really don't want the foot of the little squid in the wine glass or Zen Master Cat's tail to vanish behind the wood (I'll definitely keep that in mind for my next paintings).
So they showed me some options where I could put the painting on top of the frame, securing it from behind, and I chose a very basic one and ordered one in black (for the bar scene) and a white one for Zen Master Cat.
I was surprised when they asked me if I would like to wait and take the frames with me that day, because I thought I would order them and pick them up the next week.
While I waited I had a look around the store which was fun. So much art!
It was my first time ever buying frames for my paintings and now I can't wait to get back to Saranda and see how they look together!
I never cared for frames before, but I have to admit that a painting does look somewhat more "complete" with one. It's like the curtains of a window, you don't necessarily need them but it does make the room more cosy :)
