Laowai

I finished my papier mâché frame. This is the second frame I’ve made based on the instructions and inspiration of Corrie Beth Hogg. I can’t say enough how much I admire her. The way she researches and explores and then shares about art and craft – uhg – I want to be her when I grow up. She has an excellent Substack.

Anyway back to my feeble attempts to be as artistic as Corrie Beth. Here’s the first frame I made. For a mountain painting on canvas.

I have another canvas painting – a portrait that I got for a few bucks at a church rummage sale. I love the painting. It’s been leaning against the wall on top of the hutch in my living room for a long time. And I thought it was time to give it a proper frame.

The frame is made of layers of cardboard so, delightfully, I spent zero dollars on this project. Below you can see how the papier mâché looks before I painted it. It’s tempting to leave it with the newspaper exposed. I could make up a story about the young man being a journalist and distant relative. But no, I wanted it to go with the look of the other frame. I painted it in a sort of graphic faux bois pattern.

Mostly happy with it except it’s rather dark.

Here are the frames together. Its so frustrating to take photos in my basement – everything looks dead.