I must admit that I’m more than pleased with this frame and the painting:

La Nina Mariachi by Diane Eugster

In the blog I wrote about the development of this frame I mentioned how watching the painting develop each time I walked by Diane’s studio gave me the inspiration for this frame. Having recently purchased some Tropical Walnut I thought this would be a good time to see how it worked as well.  Not impressed with the ability to carve this wood as I mentioned in the blog due to the ever changing grain directions but did like how it has a consistent, dark chocolate color.  If you’re interested in how the frame was constructed you can check the blog but I was after a very subtle motif and since a violin is in the painting thought that the f-holes were appropriate.

The frame consists of a panel with a band at the edge to achieve the depth needed for stretched canvas work.  Keeping with the subtleness of the f-holes the panel was also textured with gouges of different sweeps adding some shadows and depth.  The finish is natural Danish Oil followed by the wet sanded mixture of urethane, boiled linseed oil, and pure gum turpentine I use for my furniture.  Starting with 320 grit wet/dry paper and working up to 1000 grit gave me the sheen I like to see.  Here are a couple of pictures with differing light to illustrate the finish and texture affect, I like how that the way the light hits the surface can change what you see:

F-Hole and texture detail

Diane blogged the story behind this painting as well, you can read her narrative of how the painting developed in her blog titled Making it Your Own.  You can view it and her other work on her gallery site.  This frame will add $300.00 to the price she has listed of $500.00.