"Notes from the Hanging Committee on Framing for a T.A.G. show:  

Long-time members have talked about this subject until they're blue in the face for the past 20 years that I know about:  I.e., PROPER FRAMING OF THE ART.  The nice people who have graced our Hanging Committees over the years for all shows, both juried and regular shows, have continued to bend over backwards for those who enter their beautiful art work unsuitably framed.  

When you have studied art for myriads of hours, plus put in many hours labor on the piece at hand; you've spruced it up, you've named it, you've considered what it might be worth to a prospective buyer, you've bought a frame for it, and you're now entering it into a show....you deserve to have others appreciate it!  So why would you not spend a little time framing it properly?  Topeka Art Guild has always insisted on NO SAWTOOTH hangers--because the picture will not hang straight--and this goes for any other type of loops and hooks often found on cheap backings on cheap frames.  Reminders continually are published, both in TAG Newsletters and in the Prospectus, to no avail.  As head of the Hanging Committee, and a committee member for many years, I can say that in EVERY SHOW, at least one person has ignored this requirement. Sometimes more time is spent just fixing the problem. Attempts are made to reach the artist so they can remedy the situation. Sometimes it is gingerly hung anyway, to avoid hurting the artist's feelings, and crossing the fingers that it won't fall off the wall in 2 months' time!!  But sometimes it's so bad that it is rejected.  This is sad for the individual who will not see their beloved work on the wall nor be receiving their entry fee back!

To reassure you:  It's not always necessary to have your work professionally framed.  After all, we are a Guild of artists who come from all backgrounds and with varying degrees of art training and proficiency.  Not everyone can afford professional framing, but attention to detail IS necessary.  It is possible to find good frames at thrift stores.  Take a tape measure with you to a store.  It's often wise to buy a frame FIRST, and THEN make your artwork come out to that size, considering mats if needed; because watercolor paper, in particular, is often a non-standard size and finding a ready-made frame may be difficult or impossible, making expensive custom framing necessary.  So think ahead!  Scrutinize the frames before buying.  Try to match a color with something in the picture, or at least match the style of the frame with the style of the art.  If a frame is plastic, consider whether you will be able to screw in the D-rings.  Wood is best.  And, when attaching your D-rings, it helps to drill a pilot hole, just a tiny bit smaller than the screw, to prevent the wood from splitting.  Drill those holes above the one-third mark of the vertical distance, and pull the wire tight between the rings before twisting--this allows it to sit closely to the wall and not lean downwards.

And, for heaven's sake, make sure your frame is CLEAN when entering a show.  Customers won't buy a dirty frame; and you should not expect the Hanging Committee to dust it off for you."

Why is Art?

By Joe Hernandez

Art is a unique form of expression, every bit as diverse and meaningful as language. We can all agree on letters, vowels, and definitions, and find that some people are more practiced in coercion, sales, or charm than many others. Art is much the same, we can all agree on colors, shapes, and structure but it takes practice to use those and create meaning or communicate ideas through visuals. In this way we can get closer to sharing what is inside us, although still imperfect, painting scenes of flowers or strife, evoking almost universal feelings, using various tools to direct those. Yet, it’s not enough to know what they are, the artist must use these with skill and grace, or lay waste to the entire enterprise. Almost the same as language.

Often, we look at a work and wonder, either quietly or aloud, why is THIS Art? It looks like that of a child’s work, it was made by using simple patterns, or a single color. Abstraction and Realism juxtaposed against each other as though they exist in some different, distant universe, far apart from anything that would bind them together. Yet they are one in the same. Conglomerations of shape and color, used in varying ways, applied with different techniques or tools, only differing in their applications on a particular work. All art is in an effect to trick the brain, the eyes, and the other senses, using abstractions to evoke a particular response. Whether that is the feeling of realism or the confoundment of abstraction, the cause is the artist push and pull of techniques, shapes, and color. Often gone missing from the superficial observations is the undercurrent of trial and error, a thousand decisions made and forgotten, each one leading the creator down a path of discovery, however it is not a lonely one, as each viewer will derive their own meaning as well. 

Art becomes a community of viewpoints; each work a spectrum of ideas evoked inside all of the individual viewers of the piece. This is where art must become visceral, free from the judgement of the waking mind, the viewer must give in to their inmost feelings, whether wonder or wrath. The confoundment of the experience can be overpowering, even to the point of deciding that its all nonsense. In a way, it is. Simple tricks of line and value to evoke certain messages, certain feelings or provoke, and get under the skin of the observer, are done with intent, but that intent is only inherent to the artist, as all other meaning of value MUST come from the viewer.

Art as a form of language is so often missed or misconstrued, because so often Art can come across as snobby or requiring a certain viewpoint. But the point is to express a thought or feeling without the use of words, to describe something beyond that which words are capable. Art is an attempt at finding common ground in uncommon expression, to hear a point of view without having to prepare a retort, an opportunity to listen, not to understand, but to know that there are experiences so far outside your own, that even a blank page can express a universe of being and feeling.