Artwork in Sansovino Frame

Go Free
Charcoal with pastel & gold watercolor on rag board
11 x 16.25 inches
Copyright 2015 AB Word

Presented in its carved and gilded with 22.5K gold leaf
Italian Renaissance "Sansovino" style picture frame
19.25 x 23.75 inches
Copyright 2016 Barrie Lynn Bryant

Now in a Central Florida private collection

Making a Celtic Cross Frame

The Magician's Daughter
Soft pastel on rag board
Presented in Celtic cross gold leaf frame with incised ornament
©2015 Merglenn Studios

The finished framework, which sold quickly during our first show of the 2015 spring tour. AB's painting seemed a perfect fit for a Celtic-themed frame. The frame is partly constructed using repurposed oak flooring from a Lutheran church parsonage in Worland, Wyoming. It is finished with gold leaf which I applied directly on the oak with minimal surface preparation to the wood in order to show the grain. The four oak pieces used for the cross were incised using a laser engraver.

Barrie designing the Celtic cross frame for The Magician's Daughter.

After cutting the top piece of the cross...

Cleaning up the curved edge...

Finishing the curved edge...

Checking for a good fit...

Gilded Megaphone on Display

I received notice that the megaphone I gilded recently (see the detailed blog entry of 21Oct14 a few posts below this one) and that was presented as a trophy, is now on permanent public display in the Marion H. Rochelle Gateway Center located on the University of Wyoming campus at Laramie, Wyoming. Along with a photograph of the megaphone on display, I received this note of thanks:

Barrie
The Megaphone was presented the night of the Grand Opening and was a wonderful addition to one of the most special nights UW has ever experienced! We appreciate so much all of your efforts. A local wood worker created a stunning base and glass enclosure and then the plaque was attached to that base in recognition of Mr. Blalock. It is now proudly displayed in the facility! Thank you so much for creating this one of a kind and unique gift!

The 22kt gilt megaphone mounted in its presentation case and displayed in the Marion H. Rochelle Gateway Center on the University of Wyoming campus at Laramie, Wyoming. The photograph was emailed to me by a representative of the University of Wyoming Foundation.

Art Show News - Halifax WOOHOOs!

We delivered one of our most popular artworks ever to a returning fine collector in Central Florida and hung it in the master bedroom on Monday, the day after exhibiting it in the Halifax Art Festival. T'was a pleasant surprise when our patron spoke for A Day of Endless Wonder Sunday afternoon during the show. 

We won a very nice cash award during the Halifax Art Festival in Daytona Beach. Just one level below Best of Show, there were three Awards of Excellence awarded on Saturday night after the first day of the show along with 20 other awards.

Our consolation prize for not winning the top award is that we were sitting with the fellow who did. Best of Show was awarded to Photographer Paul Stevens who is shown here with his especially delighted and delightful partner, Sue.

Sunrise from the patio directly behind our hotel on Daytona Beach taken two days before the Halifax show.

Gilding A Trophy...MEGAPHONE!

The finished project in my hotel room.

Two days before leaving on the fall tour, I received a telephone call asking me if I could gild a battery powered megaphone using karat gold leaf that would then be presented to someone as a trophy during a dedication ceremony for a big project. I agreed to do the job and mentioned to the caller that I was about to go out on tour for six weeks, but that I could do it between art shows in my hotel room. We agreed and the caller ordered the megaphone and had it sent to the hotel to arrive the day we would.

When we arrived the hotel in Orlando, Florida that next Wednesday, the megaphone was sitting behind the front desk just as we had planned it. Upon opening and inspecting it in the room, I ordered the gold leaf (Manetti 22K Deep Gold) for arrival Monday, which would be the day after our first weekend art show on our tour. I would be set to begin gilding on Tuesday.

Everything worked out well with the job despite the higher pressure of doing it away from my studio in Wyoming. It presented a bit of a stressful situation for me, but I got the job done and back into the hands of the presenters on Saturday, October 18. And thanks to the US Postal Service Priority EXPRESS MAIL service, the 19x13x12 inch package weighing 7 lbs. only cost $48 to ship to them overnight and It arrived to my customer in less than 24 hours. Other courier services wouldn't have delivered it on Saturday without charging extra fees, plus the initial cost would have been much higher; close to $150.

I first disassembled the handle and trigger mechanism from the body of the megaphone and gilded them separately. Then I gilded the inside of the horn which turned out to be much more difficult than I anticipated. While doing so I realized that I really needed to disassemble the entire unit, something I resisted doing in the beginning since I didn't know about the construction of it or about the electronics inside. Would i be able to reassemble the unit without a hitch? But hard to reach areas deep down inside the horn as well as ridges molded into the plastic made the gilding impossible to accomplish without taking it apart. And then it became evident that I would need to re-gild (double gild) the inside as well, which meant I had misjudged the amount of gold needed to complete the entire project. So I ordered another book of gold from two different sources, both of which arrived the next Tuesday. I finished the gilding by Wednesday and sealed the outside only with shellac on Friday morning and detailed minor blemishes that arose during the finishing.

The post office at Lake Mary, Florida (north Orlando) would accept the package until 4:45 p.m. and still get it to its destination by 3:00 the next day, Saturday, October 18. And it did. Thanks a million, USPS. WOOHOO!

Here are some photos showing details and the various stages of gilding.

One problem area with this unit for gilding is the rubber gasket between two parts, shown here at the end of my gilder's knife. The gasket shows and therefore needed to be gold. In my studio, I would have cut a 4-ply mat board which is the same thickness as the gasket, and gilded that instead. But I'm delighted that I didn't have to do this since it would have meant even further disassembly of the unit. The gilded part below my knife was very difficult to reach with the horn attached.

The inside of the horn after double gilding and then reassembling it to the electronics housing and the battery cover. Also showing is the disassembled handle and trigger. This unit is very well designed and made and I would say should have won design awards if it in fact hadn't.

The reassembled horn. The rubber gasket can be seen between the blue and the gold. The gold dial at left is the volume control.

There are several other problem areas for gilding this unit, and those are stainless steel screws and switch lever and a heavy duty sticker next to the switch lever. The gilded rubber gasket is show here as well, and I had to detail it even more during the shellac sealing process.

This view shows the voice piece screen at right which is also part of the battery housing cover.

Frame Inspired by Atlanta, GA Architect

While preparing for our first fall season 2014 show which will be at Greensboro, GA, I thought about how perfect the architecture of John Portman would be as a basis for the vertical legs on my frame for AB's painting called Market Day. I considered some of the Peachtree Center towers in Atlanta as well as those of Four Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, which is the property I patterned my frame from mostly. My drawing here shows spires atop the towers, but I'm not including them in the finished frame.

After preparing the tower faces with measured cuts, I separated the three towers and then cut different depths off the backs of them in order to vary their spatial depths. Here I'm sanding the towers and their parts. I'll attach three thin one-eighth inch thick separation strips to each tower which will encase and separate the windows, and attach one strip in between each tower to separate the towers. 

I varied the height of each tower, just like those in the actual buildings of Four Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, CA. I curved the top leg of the frame between the two vertical tower legs.

I rounded the base of the towers. I'll engrave the painting title in the center leg of the frame. We'll unveil the finished framework this September during our first venue, The Cotton South, in Greensboro, GA.

Turning TONDOS!

Barrie turning a tondo frame in his studio, getting ready to do a presentation about gold leaf techniques during the Wyoming Woodturner's group meeting in Worland on Sunday, July 13 at 2:00 p.m.

 



Applying gesso to tondos. I make my own gesso with
rabbit skin glue and French rouge gilder's whiting.

NEW Big Reproductions!

Here's a nice look at the interior of our studio gallery at Kirby, Wyoming.
We welcome visitors by appointment. Call us at (307) 864-2697.



I've been working to print and produce reproductions of some of our
larger artworks. This one is The Grand Illusion, and we can now offer
a 28x22 inch image on 30x24 inch paper unframed for $240. But notice
the framed original hanging on the wall? I also handcraft and gild the
same frame for the print so that it looks just like the original now for
a total print/frame price of $945.



New Beginnings is one of our all-time favorite works. The
image size for it is 16x16.5 inches and is printed on 20x19
inch paper. Price for this beauty is $125 (a bargain!)
 

Only You Beside Me was widely exhibited before finding a home
in a Florida collection the day after it won Best of Show during
the 2012 Ocala Arts Festival. So we've made a large print of it
that's the same size as the original painting. This 20x31 inch image
is printed on 24x35 inch paper and costs $240.

 

Soul Providers is one of our best to offer from the black
cloak series. The image measures 20x31.5 inches and is printed
on 24x34 inch paper. This one's also $240. Pretty soon I'll be
offering this in one of my handcrafted frames as well, so
stay tuned. WOOHOO!
 

Best of Show at Gulf Breeze!



Our third Best of Show at this venue.

We've rocketed to the top once again with a Best of Show win at Gulf Breeze Celebrates the Arts this past weekend. Judge Carrie Ann Baade, a professor of art with Florida State University at Tallahassee, presented us with this wonderful prize during the Saturday night awards banquet held in the fabulous Gulf Breeze Community Center on the island just out from Pensacola. This little show is one of our favorite venues due to the fine committee and easy logistics. We were visited by a dozen of our loyal print customers as well as met two wonderful new original art collectors from Mobile, Alabama who carried away with them two of our small originals. It was a banner show, indeed and we look forward to exhibiting in the venue once again soon. Thanks a million Gulf Breeze Celebrates the Arts. WOOHOO!

Award Winner at Winter Park

Unreachable continues to captivate judges
at shows, and this time she claimed an Award of
Merit upon being selected for judging by noted
realist and Art Renewal Center 2006 International
Salon William Bouguereau Award winner,
Evan Wilson.

Spring 2014 Florida Art Fair Schedule

A Summer Fantasy
©2014 Merglenn Studios
Original pastel painting by AB Word
Original gouge-carved frame by BL Bryant

We're about to head out on spring tour and look forward to seeing everyone at our Florida venues. We'll be opening our season with Florida's #1 art fair, Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, a three day event held March 21, 22, & 23. We'll occupy booth #62 on Park Avenue North.

For our second venue we'll mosey across the panhandle to exhibit in Gulf Breeze Celebrates the Arts held March 29 & 30. We'll occupy booth #60 in the Gulf Breeze High School parking lot.

Our third weekend venue happens April 5 & 6 at Tarpon Springs Fine Arts Festival. Last year we exhibited in booth 215 located along the cul-du-sac at show center and have requested the same booh once again for this year.

We'll have a weekend off before taking Tallahassee by storm for LeMoyne Chain of Parks Arts Festival held Easter weekend, April 19 & 20. We've exhibited in this venue more than any other at Florida and it's always been a good one for us.

Please consult our website at http://merglennstudios.com and blog regularly for updates since we sometimes change our schedule. We'll probably be integrating our blog with our website while on tour, and we'll post updates regarding that transition as it progresses.

Cancellation Time

We've cancelled our appearance at Telfair Art Fair and are returning home to Wyoming. We're looking forward to getting back home and working in the studios.

Early Ocala News

We rolled into Ocala earlier today and stepped out of the van into mid-70's temps since a cold front moved into Central Florida yesterday. This weekend will certainly present the weather we love; low humidity and cool temps.



Barrie's carved and gilt frame that adorns

There'll Be Bluebirds (now in a private

collection at Florida.) Thanks a million,
Fine Arts For Ocala. WOOHOO!

Since the show mentioned they might use some of our images for advertising in the Ocala Star Banner news today, we bopped into a BP gasoline station adjacent to our hotel to obtain a paper. And use our art, they did! Barrie's carved and gilt frame appears on the cover of the weekend insert announcing the art show, and then on page three of the art show spread AB's painting, Only You Beside Me, features at top right.






AB's painting, Only You Beside Me (now in a Florida private collection), is

one of the two works selected by 2012 FAFO judges that helped bring them to

their Best of Show decision. (Click on the images and they'll get bigger.) 

Winter Springs Festival of Arts

Show judges Trent Tomengo and Robert

Sindelir awarded us with a goody. WOOHOO!

We've finished our first show of the tour and it was a good one for us despite the 90 degree heat. Sponsored by Winter Springs Chamber of Commerce, this group treats artists very well by providing us with a beatiful show setting, close to the booth ample parking underneath dense and dark oak trees (what a blessing), and some of the best food we've ever been served during a show (Really, hats off to the show since they served us two breakefasts, two complete hot lunches with the best cream-filled cupcakes ever, and one awards banquet dinner with the best multi-variety fancy cheesecakes ever. WOOHOO!)




A full moon sets behind the west end of the 2013 Winter Springs Festival of Arts very early Saturday morning. The venue stretches along a beautifully landscaped walkway complete with arbored bougainvilleas and fallen soldier monument.

Fall 2013 Tour Schedule

Here's our itenerary of fall venues I promised a few weeks ago.

October
19-20, Winter Springs Festival of Arts at Winter Springs, FL, booth 317. Been there, done that. Won Award of Distinction. WOOHOO!

26-27, Fine Arts For Ocala, Ocala Arts Festival at Ocala, FL, booth 96. Word has it that we'll be featured in an Ocala newspaper spread about the show to be published Thursday, Oct. 24.

November
1-3, Great Gulf Coast Arts Festival at Pensacola, FL, booth Warhol 6.

9-10, Temple Terrace Community Arts Festival (east Tampa near Bush Gardens), booth 56.

16-17, Telfair Art Fair at Savannah, GA, booth is in green section.

Completed Gypsy Caravan Auricular Frame

Gypsy Caravan

©2013 AB Word & BL Bryant
Soft pastel w/watercolor on rag board
Shown in its fully gouge-carved gold leaf picture frame
19 x 29 inches framed

FINALLY: Gilding Gypsy Caravan Auricular Frame

With confidence and diligence, Barrie gets his gilding on during several late night studio sessions last week while preparing for the forthcoming fall tour. Scroll down in the blog to see the details about carving this little beauty. WOOHOO!

Preparing for Fall 2013 Tour

Barrie shaping a cove using one of his new Ashley
Iles carving gouges despite the hour being tea time.

AB has done plenty of new paintings, as usual. Why can't Barrie keep up the pace with frames? AB says if he'd stop taking pictures of himself he'd get more frames made. HA!

Here's Barrie carving one for the painting in the background titled Aren't We a Pair, and both artists feel this new work will be a contender as one of their favorites.

We'll be posting our fall schedule soon on the blog, but it is already featured on our website at merglennstudios dot com along with plenty new work. We're keeping the website updated most often, as we should. WOOHOO!

Gypsy Caravan Auricular Frame Carving Progress

Here's the progress on Barrie's carving project. It's fun looking at the difference between the carved and uncarved elements. It's taken a while to get all this carved and shaped, but Barrie is confident that the rest of the project will not take nearly as long since there's quite a bit of design and thinking that took place to achieve the carved parts. Except for the grotesque at bottom and the auricular patterns at top center, the rest will be just carving the elements running in the opposite direction of what's already been established. It's really an exciting project and a harbinger of frames to come. WOOHOO!

Gypsy Caravan Frame ©2013 BL Bryant -- work in progress

Shaping Auricular Frame for Gypsy Caravan

Here's Barrie's latest frame showing the work in progress. He caught the carving fever while working on There'll Be Bluebirds (see it pictured in the previous blog post below) and thus chose to up the ante for this new project. Using several historical references from two important books, one by Jacob Simon, The Art of the Picture Frame: Artists, Patrons & the Framing of Portraits in Britain, and the other by Deborah Davis, The Secret Lives of Frames: One Hundred Years of Art & Artistry, Barrie created a preliminary full-scale drawing on graph paper and then transferred the drawing to the "blank" eight-quarter bass wood frame he cut and joined. He'll be posting more pics later this week, or early next detailing progress as well as the finished frame once it is ready for gilding, and certainly the completed project once gilded and prepared for the spring tour. Now we hope you enjoy these...and don't forget to click on each picture so that it will enlarge. WOOHOO!



This is the frame "blank" as prepared and ready for shaping and carving



Barrie using a jigsaw during the first stages of shaping

Spindle sanding is the next stage of shaping

Filing clean edges with rasps and rifflers in the warm studio. The painting resting on the mini easel belongs in this frame!

Here's the shaped frame ready for carving!