When we moved into this flat, I spent rather more money than I could properly afford on getting some pictures framed. They were an eclectic collection: a screen-printed poster from one of the artists in the Brighton arcades; a photograph of my godmother; a honeymoon Montmartre drawing and a watercolour landscape; three photographs that I’d taken myself. That morning at the picture framer’s, searching through all the frames and mounts to find the ones that made the pictures sing – a ridged wood frame to echo the back platform of the bus, a gold edge to bring out the warmth of the red crayon, three different mounts for my three different photographs, with identical silver frames to tie them together – was enjoyable and enlightening. I’d never realised how much there was to it.
It took me a while to get around to getting some picture hooks. The first chapter of Fair Play stuck in my mind:
Jonna had a happy habit of waking each morning as if to a new life, which stretched before her straight through to evening, clean, untouched, rarely shadowed by yesterday’s worries and mistakes.
Another habit – or rather a gift, equally surprising – was her flood of unexpected and spontaneous ideas. Each lived and blossomed powerfully for a time until suddenly swept away by a new impulse demanding its own undeniable space. Like now this business about the frames. Several months earlier, Jonna had decided she wanted to frame some of the pictures by fellow artists that Mari had on her walls. She made some very pretty frames, but when they were ready to hang, Jonna was seized by new ideas and the pictures were left standing around on the floor.
“For the time being,” Jonna said. “And for that matter, your whole collection needs rehanging, top to bottom. It’s hopelessly conventional.” Mari waited and said nothing. In fact, it felt good having things unfinished, a little as if she had just moved in and didn’t have to take the thing so seriously.
Kathleen Jowitt 
Your quoted excerpt from Fair Play has me adding the book to my reading list Kathleen. I’m trying hard to keep my promise to myself to stick with the 100 books I’ve already put on my list for 2017, but here we are only in February and I feel myself slipping. 🙂 Such a delicious problem to have!
I love your flowers photo, and you chose well with your mat and frame. The choices can be daunting, but I find that makes it all the more precious when we settle on something that makes our heart happy.
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Thank you! I really did find the experience of talking through the various options with the framer to be very interesting and valuable.
I do hope you enjoy Fair Play. I think it’s probably my favourite of Jansson’s books.
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An interesting challenge … It’s been such a long time since we’ve bought any frames. I do want something bright (orange, turquoise) to lift my bedroom but probably on canvas.
Love the link to Fair Play 🙂
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