Museum Quality Picture Framing |custom picture mats | hand crafted picture frames: 2014

Why PlexiGlass Picture Framing

Introduction of PlexiGlass has significantly changed the trend of picture framing industry. People have a better option to glass to show off their creative artworks in a sophisticated way. Plexi glass doesn't just look similar to glass but also has some definite benefits that simple glass can't provide you. This difference of performance makes the Plexiglass one of the most obvious choice when it comes to picture framing.

Plexiglasspicture framing can provide your latest artwork a definitely sleek look that will also suit perfectly on your modern walls.

Benefits Of Plexiglass Picture Framing

Plexi glass picture frame | img: luminati.co.uk

Weight:
Plexiglass is quite lighter compared to usual glass. This means when you use Plexiglass for your picture framing, the assembly at whole will have lower weight and thus less probability of harm in the case if it falls down from where it is mounted. Also it makes it easier to transport your whole framed assembly from one place to another.

Clarity:
Though technically Plexiglass is not a glass, the clarity you get with Plexiglass is quite similar to that of glass. The only drawback with Plexiglass is its scratchy nature. However, there are improved versions of Plexiglass available for framing, it is still more scratchy than glass. Also Plexiglass is clearer than glass due to less amount of glares.

Thermo-formability:
Plexiglass, being acrylic product made of petroleum, possesses great flexibility and hence you can try using plexiglass for unusually shaped picture frames too. It allows you be creative with your framing assembly.

Shatter Resistance:
Plexiglass shows more strength and more shatter resistance compared to the glass. A Plexiglass pane can withstand more pressure than the same thickness of usual glass pane. It means that a plexiglass framing assembly would never shatter down into dangerous pieces as that of glass when broken by a reasonably heavy impact.

UV Protection:
After prolong artificial and outdoor exposure to light, Plexi glass doesn't change in looks. It means that Plexiglass is quite resistant to UV rays and it doesn't harm your artwork for long time. However, for preservation purpose, it is advised to use thin UV protective film with Plexiglass to save the artwork from UV rays.

Easy transportation:
Due to durability, lightness and flexibility level, Plexiglass is less likely to get broken or harmed while transportation. Especially when transporting the artwork over long distance, Plexiglass is far ideal than glass.

Color Choice:
Plexiglass comes in variety of colors which not only look good but also protects the artwork from harmful UV rays and sunlight. In case if you want to be creative with your Plexiglass framing, this is great option.

Decorative:
Due to sleek look of Plexiglass picture frames and quite plain structure, Plexiglass picture frames look quite elegant and sophiticated and makes clear display of your artwork which adds alive charm to your place.

So if you are looking for picture framing for your artwork that looks great and performs even better, be sure you checkout Plexiglass picture frames before making your purchase. It is really worth checking out.

Nick Paciorek- Beautiful Cityscape Paintings At PaintBox SoHo Art Galleries

Cityscape art paintings at SoHo by Nick Pacioreck

Beautiful cityscapes of Chicago, lively people, vibrant colors & sound of the streets- these are the things that played a part in shaping the young boy who later became a well-known Cityscape artist. He has canvased streets of Boston, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, Italy, Worcester & many more cities & art collectionists love his paintings with vibrant colors and lively cityscapes.

Nick Paciorek

Meet him, he is Nick Paciorek, One of our great artists at PaintBox SoHo.

At the age of life when other children were enthralled by baseball tournaments at Wrigley Field, Paciorek was bewitched by brightness around him- colors of the field, the bleachers & the people watching the game. Unlike other children, Nick spent plenty of time in visiting art exhibits. His favorite place was an Impressionism collection at a museum in downtown Chicago, where he used to visit again and again wowed by ability of an artist to control the world on canvas simple through choice of colors & shapes. Eventually, Matisse became his central inspiration for the art he is obsessed with now.

Nick didn't realize the art that laid inside him till he was fourteen when he had first intense experience of colors that made him realize that one day he would become an artist.

Nick Pacioreck gives his paintings an emotional impact by using broad strokes of brilliant colors when painting the hard-edged cityscapes. Each of Paciorek's painting is bright & vivid interpretation of his subject. He uses audacious palette to craft the beautiful cityscapes reflecting his own mood. Usually Nick prefers to create paintings without figures as figures can change the mood of painting completely.

Nick Paciorek admits that he is little partial to reds, yellows & oranges but at the time when he is drawing cityscapes. He always tries to represent the emotion that he is feeling while drawing it. The only color that Nick avoids to use is Black. He says that black frustrates him and creates a sense of fear. Rather than using usual colors to depict an object, Nick Paciorek uses vibrant, unusual colors that instantly grabs your attention. You will hardly see the green grass in his paintings, he would use pink of shades of red instead for that!

Basically there are three components of Nick Paciorek's paintings, one is the subject itself, another is color & the third is lighting. While color sets the emotions, light sets the mood as per Nick. He is captivated by active skylines, busy streets & hard edges that is central subject for most of his paintings. He is fascinated & influenced by the relationships of one building to another and immediacy of light hitting a building in certain way.

A resident of Chicago for most of his life, Nick Paciorek eventually settled in the Providence, Rhodes Island area for reaping the wealth of subject matter at there. During the early 1980s he attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and he graduated from Maryland Institute's College of Art in 1985.

Nick has had both group & solo shows at Foxhall gallery in Washington DC. He has held his exhibits in various cities throughout the US including Chicago, Providence, Rhodes Island, and Philadelphia. Nick now maintains a studio in Providence.

At PaintBox SoHo, you can buy limited edition Nick Paciorek paintings and get beautiful framing on them including Plexiglass frames, handcrafted frames and custom art frames at quite reasonable pricing. We also sell amazing fine art prints from other famous and aspiring artists of NYC. Visit us to know more.

8 Types Of Quality Woods For Beautiful, Wooden Art & Picture Frames

Ever wondered which kind of woods are used in the beautiful wooden picture frames? Here are eight beautiful types of woods most widely used worldwide to make astonishingly beautiful picture frames.

Cherry wood

Cherry wood comes in variety of colors ranging from pinkish to reddish. Cherry wood is grouped under hardwood and due to fine continuous grain structure, it has good capability to produce smooth and silky texture when sanded, stained and polished.Its moderate strength, smooth texture and insect resistant properties make it one of ideal wood for art & picture framing.

Fishtail Oak wood

Fishtail Oak wood is an exotic hard wood, one among most strong and durable woods. It has a distinctive look with embossed pattern on it resembling to a fishtail & that's why it is called fishtail Oak wood. Generally fishtail oak wood has shades ranging from golden tan to coppery color with occasionally rose, burgundy or silver overtone. Being uniquely distinguishable and beautiful in looks, this is also used for picture framing purpose.

Mahogany Wood

Mahogany wood needs no introduction. It is one of the most loved wood used for fine-quality furniture, cabinetry sculpture, carving, interior trim and other applications. It comes with yellowish, pinkish or reddish shade when freshly cut. With passage of time it becomes deep rich red to reddish brown. Mahogany wood has fine to medium texture with interlocking grain varying from straight to wavy or curly.

Walnut Wood

However there are many species of walnut wood in world, most popular is black walnut wood of America. Black Walnut is semi-ring porous, with medium-sized pores throughout and larger pores at the edge of its growth rings. The walnut wood has a low level of shrinkage when drying, and suffers very little seasonal movement. Walnut wood has straight-grained structure making it remarkably easy to work for almost every application. When sanded, it generates a rich smooth finish. It glues well and can be easily steam-bent which makes it ideal for art framing & picture framing.

Quarter sawn oak wood

Quarter sawn oak wood has a pleasant aesthetic with the famous medullary ray flecks in it. It has wavy interlocked grains which holds finishes better. Liquid can't readily pass through it. Due to its classic beauty and age proof aesthetics, Quarter sawn wood is one of the most beautiful wood to get your arts & pictures framed.

Maple wood

Maple wood color ranges from nearly white, to an off-white cream color, sometimes with a reddish or golden hue. It has small porous grains spread uniformly over texture. Maple wood sands to a smooth, even surface. It is easy to cut and shape, but can be prone to tear out due to its occasionally interlocked grain pattern. Spalted and figured pieces of maple are usually more expensive than plain boards, but their striking visual effects can make a project very unique and eye-catching

Poplar wood

Poplar wood is light cream to yellowish brown, with occasional streaks of gray or green. It typically has a straight, uniform grain, with a medium texture. Low natural luster. You can find poplar in many furniture projects, toys and wood turnings because it is inexpensive, fairly workable and takes nails, screws and glue well. It works best with paint as a finish, but it can often be stained in an attempt to simulate finer woods. Its cheap price and framing-friendly characteristics make it ideal for affordable picture & art framing.

European beech wood

With such a wide range of possibilities in cabinetry, furniture, and flooring, European Beech has quickly become recognized as the most versatile hardwood in the marketplace. It has excellent physical properties, great finish, light color suitable from office to homes. Its easy and clean to plane, rout, drill, sand and turn on a lathe, ideal for bent and formed parts, and finishes to the most exacting standards and specifications

PaintBoxSoho is an innovative picture framing shop located at heart of art, SoHo. We serve at truly affordable rates for all types of framing needs ranging from choosing a frame to delivering it to your home.

3 types of (intangible) frames you never knew about

Apart from Art and picture frames there are other types of frames too that work in our lives, but most of us are not aware of them.

3 types of frames that are totally unrelated to art & picture framing (and interesting as well)

1- Fact frames

Fact frame means point of view a person looks at any situation. People look at situation with either negative frame or positive frame.

Fact frames

An interesting effect related to this fact is Framing effect which is a psychological effect of cognitive bias when people are forced to make particular choice between a positive and negative frame of situation.

When positive frame is represented, people tends to avoid risks, while when the negative frame is represented, people tend to find risk. Making it no more complex, let's have a real life example.

In 1981, Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman carried out a survey to figure out how different phrasing affected participants' responses to a choice in a hypothetical life and death situation!

In that survey, participants were asked to make choice among two different teatment frames for 600 people affected by deadly disease. The positive frame said that “There is 33% chance of saving all 600 people & 66% possibility of saving no one.” while negative frame said that “There is 33% chance that no people will die and 66% chance that everybody will die”.

Results were amazing. 72% of people chosen Positively framed phrase which emphasized that 'treatment saved 200 people's lives' while merely 22% of people chosen negatively framed phrase which emphasized that '400 people will die”!

In a similar experiment, When penalty fee for late registration was emphasized, 93% of PhD students registered earlier while only 67% registered earlier when they were discounted for earlier registration.

2. Video frames

In terms of media and motion pictures, the word 'frame' means picture itself.

Video frames

Frame Per Second is measure used in motion pictures and media. It is number of images (also called frames) that is subsequently displayed by device in a second.

Usually human visual system can process 10 to 12 images per second, perceiving them individually. This also means that if more than 12 images are sequentially passed infront of our eyes in a second, we would not be able to identify images individually. Instead, we would feel them as a single video or motion picture.

Early silent films displayed 14-24 frames per second which was good enough to give a sense of motion. But still it was bit jerky for realistic performance. Gradually standards improved & In present cinema business three wide accepted FPS standards are 24 FPS, 25 FPS & 30 FPS.

3. HTML frames

In Internet technology, Frame is an HTML tag used to arrange portions of webpage in a way that they are independent of each other.

For example, see the figure above. Assume there is structure of a webpage displayed through this figure. In this figure, frame 1 may be a static author photo, frame 2 may be an author description while frame 3 can be a an article or poem written by author which might need to be scrolled to be read completely.

Basic aim of HTML frames is to keep different portions of a webpage move freely and independent of each other. The blog you are reading right now, is also a composition of HTML frames arranged in elegant manner!

Did you ever know that there are also some intangible type of frames which you use in your routine life, but are still ignorant of? Was the information interesting?

If you know something even more interesting about frames, please let us know in the comments.

image credits: w3c.org | topyaps.com | shslive.com