Paintin' n Framin', Paintin' n Framin'

bustin my hump... and i'm feeling it this morning. huffing around 4x8 sheets of 3/4 Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF): ripping, routing and joining to make frames... again. I have a show due to the gallery in a couple of short weeks. I've already pulled 30+ framed pieces, all packed and ready to roll, but the latest works, and most controversial are unframed and whining to go, too. Oversize pieces mean oversize frames. i've got three over 4' in width, which is always a challenge to frame, hang and transport. doing the math, i spent 25 bucks on MDF and cull cart tongue and groove pine, which after milling and waste, equals 280 lineal feet of usable frame stock. so that's a long 10 cents a foot for frame stock, with my average piece using 6-8 feet of stock, plus sandpaper, paint, finish and edging... then add hangers and wire, and i still come out less than 10 bucks a frame... an i mean NICE frames. no skimping on the quality, biscuits in all corners, reinforcing of joints on oversize pieces. I often cannibalize my older pieces of their frames to get the new ones up for shows. this is an advantage to working in standard sizes and ratios.

SO, what exactly DID i do this weekend? I kept the brush moving on Saturday, which saw a finalization on my piece, Junkie: Every one has a Story, and knocking some dark lines into the AK-Baby piece prior to framing.

Work is still progressing on Miss America. I'm not fully pleased with it's direction, but it's headed somewhere.

The Lviv pieces, including finalizing Pogrom. I hate to dwell on this subject, but the horrors of Lviv Ukraine, 1942 must be spoken to.
Wrapping up the weekend was a tighter sketch of a pulp idea down on the docks. No light study, but the pencil lines give the idea of the form of the piece. Need to get the background more dynamic, and i still want to place an old yard truck in the background.
To top off my weekend fun, I got my FASFA info in motion and called Hartford to let them know it's coming across their desk soon. I need to get it together prior to NYC in Nov.