Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Enlarge and elevate tiny artwork with a shadowbox


Sometimes tiny art is hard to display. I'm a firm believer that the scale of artwork should match the scale of the space where it's hung, so unless you have tiny strips of wall, tiny pieces can get lost. A great way to give them a little more bulk is to put them inside a shadowbox.

This small 4.5" x 5.5" piece was painted by my great grandfather. I don't know much about him or his art hobby, but this painting didn't have any glass to protect it. The least I could do was take care of it properly.


I took a small scrap of gold fabric (leftover from a pillow) to use as a background.


I stapled it directly to the backing of the frame. This is an inexpensive shadowbox and the backing is just thin cardboard, so it wasn't difficult.


Then I took a T-shaped pin and put it through the fabric so I could hang the painting on it, just like I might put a nail in the wall to hang a picture. The pins are strong and this painting is very light, so it worked fine.


I love how the gold fabric and gold frame look together. Dare I say, kind of fancy? Kind of like a museum display.


But really, I think having the whole painting and frame behind glass elevates it in a way that just hanging it on the wall does not. The shadowbox is only 8" x 10"; not huge, but it's a little more substantial on a wall than the painting alone.