A White Frame Treatment

A customer came in the other day with the artwork mounted on a triple white mat. I was intrigued because I hadn't considered this particular treatment. I began to think about how to work with white on white. It occurred to me that in order for this to be aesthetically successful one must create dimension. Because, after all, when you're working with white on white you are actually working with shadow. So I took a thick white frame and stacked it on a slimmer one. Then I placed a white fillet inside of that to achieve a distinct proportion and dimension. I wanted to continue with a triple white mat design but realized that now it was becoming ridiculous. To make the white frame work I needed a drastic contrast. I went with my "stand-by" green mats: Midnight Green, Envy, & Blarney. These mats are subtlety close in shade, but the white frames and the white fillet within the inner mat accentuate the sublime difference in their shades. I see this in a beach house on the seashore of Maine. The brilliant afternoon sunlight washing out the white frames then, as the light evolves into the late afternoon, the softer shadows begin to emerge. In the evening candlelight causes the shadows to dance and constantly change. Giving this simple artwork life and interest. Reminding one of the sea-foam green ocean and the white sandy beach.