Pamela Glasscock, (wildflower)

2011. Watercolor, ca. 6-1/2″ x 17″ (frame glass size is 21″ x 9″). Framed in No. 2001 “Yoshida” with 3/4″ sides and 1″ top and bottom members, in machiche with ebony plugs.

In framing this piece, one of a set of three floral watercolors by northern California artist Pamela Glasscock, we wanted to marry the delicate images with a Craftsman interior. To that end, we couldn’t do better than our old standby, the Yoshida frame, choosing for the wood machiche, a tropical hardwood (sustainably harvested) from Belize. Unstained, its natural color harmonized perfectly with the paintings. The frame’s joined with tiny through mortise-and-tenon joints with raised square plugs at the corners.

As you can see, we don’t always frame close. In this case, the paper, which has nice deckled edges, is floated. Floating can come off as pretentious—a way of separating the picture from the frame and surroundings. In other words, it often has a stand-offish effect. In this case, though, it simply treats the paper as a three-dimensional object. A watercolor of this delicacy is never going to be integrated architecturally—achieving what’s sometimes called “mural feeling.” So in this case, the separation effect of floating makes sense.

Pamela Glasscock is represented by Calabi Gallery, in Petaluma, CA and I. Wolk Galleries. A wonderful watercolorist!

More about the Yoshida frame…