Over thirty years ago I picked up this frame (garage sale or op shop somewhere) and through the years have tried to find a work for it. Nothing ever seemed to suit it.
Finally I have created a piece that belongs!

I cleaned up the back of the frame and glued the pieces that were falling off back on – mostly the strips of wood around the painting space.

The frame is all wood – not sure what type of wood but it is very light.

This detail (above) shows the beautiful carving. The decoration motifs have been carved so that they turn towards the corners, from the middle section of each of the four pieces of wood. Also, the carved notches on the inner strip of wood, follow this direction.

I cleaned the frame; sanded some sections that needed smoothing; stained it with Burnt Umber Atelier acrylic paint mixed with Atelier Thin Medium; used Jo Sonja Rich gold acrylic for the inner strip of wood and for dry brushing high areas of texture. Finally I varnished the frame.

I purchased museum grade glass, used my acrylic spacer rods and framed the pastel of my father, done over collage on AS board. So happy to have found the right work for this frame.