Framer's Corner

Welcome to our

February Framer's Corner!!

Each month, we like to take a moment to share some of our favorite projects with our readers, giving you an inside look at the process of framing, meeting our designers, and the fun pieces of art that come through our shop. 

This past year at Frame of Mind, we have had a lot of exciting and unusual projects come through our doors.

This months Framer's Corner comes to you from our designer Heather C.

In the summer months in Missoula the music scene comes to life. With the many outdoor venues and the beautiful summer nights it is a perfect mix for for making memories while enjoying yourself and good company.

Our client came to us with a piece of memorabilia from his favorite concert he saw in Missoula in 2023. This client was super excited to get his drum head from Reo Speedwagon framed and Heather C. was up for the challenge.

Heather has been custom framing since 2006 and loves to create fun, unique designs for her clients.

The design....

The color pallet for this piece was rather simple, black, red and silver. But, the question is, how were we going to use the colors in the best way to really make this piece pop and make the customer LOVE it?!

The drum was signed in silver and had a silver rim so Heather chose to use high contrast and to mount the drum head to a black shiny matting, adding the shiny mat gives this piece a rich look and makes the drum really stand out.

The REO logo on the drum was printed in a red gradient pattern so the top mat that Heather chose was a red fabric matting that mimics the gradient pattern in the printed logo on the drum head. The black matting and the red matting really tie all of this together nicely.

Next choice in the design process was the frame choice, Heather added a silver frame to pick up on the silver aspects of the drum head. This particular silver frame has a very nice visual texture that includes a bit of black distressing.

The mounting....

When it comes to mounting 3D objects we have quite a few different ways we can do it, however we keep our mounting practices reversible and acid free so to not damage anything. Keeping this in mind for this project we chose to use a product called mighty mounts. These are an acrylic type fastener that will hook on the side of the drum head to keep it in place and poke through the mat to be secured on the back side.



The assembly and final touches....

After the drum head has been secured and attached to the bottom black shiny mat, we started assembly. The drum head is approximately 3/4" tall, and with that being said, we needed to raise the top fabric mat to more of an even level with the drum. If we just laid the red matting on top of the black matting it would feel a bit flat. Keeping in mind every project is different and we all use our many years of framing experience and love of aesthetic to determine what is best on a project by project basis.



This project required raising the top matting. So underneath the top mat, between the top and the bottom mat there is a few layers of foamcore that can not been seen but that are working within the final design to add depth (but not too much) and to make this piece perfect!

Our final touch is the choice of glazing. Glazing is a framing term that simply refers to putting glass on a piece of artwork. For this piece we used our 99%UV glass, this glass is conservation quality glass that will protect the drum, and matting from fading due to sunlight and interior lighting. The glass also protects from dust and dirt and is the final touch in framing any piece of artwork. 

Our client was so happy with the finished product and enjoys it on the daily.

Do you have something special to frame? Come check in with our designers and see what we can do for you!!

1706 Brooks Street

Missoula, MT 59801

406-549-8589