The Spirit of Giving Can Be Collaborative
I’ve written from time to time about “the art of charitable giving” because our area’s abundant creative talent dovetails well with our many community causes. Donating art to charities allows me to participate with the assets I have as an artist, paying it forward in the best way that I can.
For my illustration donation to Western North Carolina AIDS Project’s (WNCAP) annual “Raise Your Hand” auction, I needed help with matting and framing, an artistic area that isn’t one of my strong suits. Framing one’s own work can be a bit like attempting to wrangle one’s artist statement: it can be harder to do if you’re too close to the subject. A fresh set of eyes can capture that word or turn of phrase or, in this case, color combination, that is just right, rather than merely OK.
So, fellow creative — and color expert — Jennifer Moore to the rescue! We recently met up at a local frame shop so she could pull the right look together. Jennifer instructed me to bring over the rack of colorful, pre-cut mat corners, and she set to work.
This particular illustration contains about fifteen colors, including a hibiscus tea wash in the background that dried to a really Star-Trekky (there it is!) shade of blue-gray on the rag paper. With the main influences being that blue-gray, some blue-greens and orange-reds, I viewed framing this as quite the challenge, but Jennifer calmly started pulling various mat corners and floating them over the drawing, seeing which ones related to the array of colors before her.
She then suggested that a double-mat would be cool, and then started creating dual color-combinations. It was like tenth-level matting! (Don’t try this at home unsupervised, kids!)
It really hit me that Jennifer looked like she was dowsing for water as she skillfully navigated the surface, connecting relationships amongst the hues like magic; moving and pausing, rearranging mats, switching colors, until one bubbled up to the surface as the best look for this work.
A visual artist in her own right, including experience with interiors, antiques, horticulture and more in addition to her functional ceramics, she gets it: quality presentation of art is critical.
Jennifer came up with more than one color combination that worked. Each supported the illustration, yet also left room for the wise notion that a mat and frame that blends well with a variety of home decor styles is best for whomever wins this piece at auction time.
And here’s the kicker — she has donated the cost of the supplies as well as her consulting services to this project! Charitable events create a trickle-sideways giving effect, where everyone has a chance to contribute time, talent, skills and products — whatever we each can do, really. I’m grateful to Jennifer, not only for her framing design expertise, but also for her donation to WNCAP. And my illustration is now ready for a night on the town!
It’s good to give, and great to share the load with a friend. Jennifer’s attention to detail and her color expertise are reflections of our lives as artists: we concentrate on the beauty, and then there we are, creating more of it.
For custom framing design contact Jennifer Moore at jennifer.moore29@gmail.com
IF YOU GO: WNCAP’s “Raise Your Hand Auction” is September 29, 2012. Visit www.wncap.org for details.