Framing pastels

I should title this "oof" because this is one frustrating thing to do....but I had the frames and was determined to make it happen.

Pastels are unavoidably dusty and fixing them with spray just ruins the luminous characteristics of the medium. Pastels must be protected by glass or plexi (glass is best) but this does not prevent the pastel from continuing to shed dust over time and onto the matt board (if using one). Therefore space is needed between the pastel and the matt board so that the dust can fall down in between and out of sight. I use strips of foam core or matt board and hide them under the mattboard, so the pastel looks like it is floating a bit. But my dilemma today was how to do all of this with pastel bord....Ideally pastel can be on paper and a hinge constructed with archival tape can be created to attach it to a backing board. But the horse pasture pastel here was created on pastel bord, which is new for me. I loved working with it, but wondered how on earth to attach it to a backing board for support. Can I glue it? What is considered archival and professional? I guess the actual pastel bord could be the backing board, but the frame I wanted to use is larger and I wanted a matt--ugh.

I probably made this more difficult than needed, but it is finally done!

I ended up creating the space between the pastel and matt just like I always do, with spacers(foam core). Then I created shims out of foam core to snuggle up to the edges of the pastel board, creating a tight fit (and all hidden behind the matt board). I backed it with a thin matt board and taped it up!

I have sketches to create a mate for the horse pasture pastel. I will use this same process so they are truly a pair. I was tempted to switch to paper, but I want them to truly go together.

Hope to get that one finished up in the next day or two as well as a portrait of Bea, in progress and Emma, the airdale dog. Today was going to be a glass etching day... but I'm glad to have a few things framed for the upcoming oft tour.

Now onto some commissions for etched monograms on small vases. will post those pics soon!