Paris Match
As a designer and artist, I love artwork. Whether new or old (in some cases very old), the art that I find is usually unframed. While some would be dissuaded from buying it this way, I usually prefer it, as it gives me the opportunity/excuse to go hunting for lovely old frames in antique shops and flea markets.
The two leaning frames caught my eye some time ago. I loved their simple beauty. They’ve been stored away in an upstairs closet with their fellow misfit frames, just waiting for their moment to be re-used. This collection, grown over time, includes frames bought at the Paris Flea Market for a couple of Euros to old gilded frames from the Brimfield Antique Flea Market for just under $100.
Right next to this closet, I keep all my loose art in a large flat file. This is one of my go-to spots when I want to be inspired and have the urge to freshen up a bit around Connecticut Country House.
I decided to create an all-French vignette with some re-discovered lovelies. Playing around with scale and placement, I leaned two smaller candidates (on the left, a 1920’s French boutique receipt from the Champs-Élysées in Paris, and the one on the right, an 18th c. engraving of a Paris Chateau and its gardening scene) with their soon to be permanent frames. I love them together, especially with the large 18th century hand drawn and painted French property map. You probably notice that the map is already framed – but with new. After hanging out in my flat file for well over a decade, I still didn’t have an appropriate frame that suited the map. Accepting that my antique frame hunt for this one needed to end, I chose a wonderful faux worn and whitewashed frame from my local frame shop.
Now back to that frame shop with all my thoughtfully chosen parts!
C’est la vie!
Love, Nora