One of the things I love about picture framing is that the work is so varied – you never know what your next framing job is going to be.
My most recent job was to frame two 3D figures made out of glass – quite a challenge!
The owner gave me free range in deciding the best course of action in terms of layout and colour palate but my first mission was to decide how to frame them.
The glass bodies are quite heavy as well as being 3D so I knew I would have to tackle them completely differently than a flat piece of art.
I decided to display them side by side horizontally in a box frame¹ which I made using a moulding with a very deep rebate² I finished it off with a coat of matt black paint.
I thought the pieces needed a strong colour mountboard³ and I was instantly drawn to how they looked on a red wine colour. I cut the mountboard to size using a mount cutter and then I made a backing board the same size out of MDF⁴ board.
After a lot of measuring (and re-measuring!) I was happy that I had positioned both figures how I wanted them. I held them in place with turn buttons and screws⁵ which went into the backing board.
The whole piece was really starting to take shape!
Next I cut two windows from black mountboard and these also covered up the turn-buttons. As the piece is 3D I had to raise the top and sides with many layers of foam-board⁶ to create the necessary depth required.
I then finished off the picture with a double mount⁷ using the same red and black mountboard. I think it looks very striking.
When it came to choosing the glass I knew I had to go with Artglass⁸ as I really wanted the detail of the figures to come through without any reflections. I didn’t want anything to distract from the piece and I knew this glass would make all the difference.
All that was left was the finishing touches and the piece was complete!
Although challenging at times, I really enjoyed framing these figures. Framing glass pieces is not something that I come across very often but I feel that they work really well in a frame. I will look forward to framing more glass items in future.

Glossary of Framing Terms

• Box frame¹ – A frame which is much taller than a conventional frame.
• Rebate² The inner cut out ‘lip’ of a frame (moulding) in which the glass, mount, artwork and backing board are held into the frame by.
• Mountboard³ – A mountboard is a thin white, black or coloured card that the artwork is placed inside for decorative purposes. Using an art frame mount presents the artwork professionally, creating a clean and crisp finish.
• MDF⁴ – Medium-density fibreboard is a man made wood that is free from natural defects. It has a smooth sanded surface and a precision finish.
• Turnbuttons and screws⁵ – A suitable fixing devise for securing pictures into frames.
• Foamboard⁶ – A light density board which is easy to cut. It is often used as picture backing board.
• Double mount⁷ – Two pieces of mountboard placed on top of each other. You can change the colour of the inner mountboard so that it adds interest and depth to the picture.
• Artglass⁸– a fantastic type of glass which features outstanding UV protection without sacrificing clarity. Your Artwork will be protected from harmful UV rays while at the same time Artglass provides the ultimate transparency by minimising reflections.