There are two pages to this section:

1. Examples of various mat designs (shown below)

2. An explanation on how I cut mats, including some hints and a demonstration.

The following pictures with different mat designs are displayed around our house and reflect our interest in travel and diversity of ideas. I'll make a few comments to go with some of them. The subject of making frames I will leave for another time. Let me just say that the frame is usually less important than what is inside of it. In fact, displaying a nice painting without a frame (or a mat, for that matter) can be very striking.

First some notes:
** I have taken the photos from an angle trying to show the edges of the mat.
** Because of the glass fronts, the angle also reduces the glare.
** Some mats are old and did not use acid-free matting material. Note the tan edges on some. They were white at one time.
** Please keep in mind that some are souvenirs rather than artistic treasures.

Above are two examples of a simple double matted set. This is the type you will encounter most of the time. The water color is from Cusco, Peru. The scene depicts the front of a "chicha", a bar where the local drink pisco sour is served.  We bought this from a street artist after our visit to Machu Picchu. The second is our portrait with an embroidered hanky from Brugge, Belgium. This delicate lace used to be made by hand.

Both mats have cutouts for a title or the hanky.

The jump or shift in pattern design does not have to be just in the corner. Here are some examples of mats that have been cut into a variety of shapes. Below is a triple mat with a brass or "gold" layer to compliment the brass buckles. These ornamental "rings" came from England where they were used as decoration on the tack and harness of horses. The original purpose was to bring good luck or to ward off the effects of the "evil eye." This superstitious idea goes back as far as the Roman days. The picture to the right is another "evil eye" that we picked up in Turkey. It hangs in my office, across from the English version.

I have also combined pictures inside the same frame. Here is a small oil my wife bought in Paris when she was eighteen years old. It is combined with a print taken at the same location and a snapshot of us having a glass of wine at the small cafe with the canopy, "Le Consulat". This was in 1993.

Again I made cut outs for the title insert, photo and menu card.

A more complicated collage is the display of old rubbles and a plate showing the commemorative church in Belarus where the Nazis murdered thousands of innocent people. This was given to me when I was there on a business trip after the Berlin wall came crashing down. The paper money shown below, are in dominations of 1 to 100 rubles; the coins are a fraction of a ruble. They are now just a collectors item. When I was there,  the exchange rate was about 15,000 rubles to a dollar.

Another example of a three dimensional display can be seen below. It is a combination of four small rugs hand woven by Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and some rock samples I picked up along the way. Actually, the carved piece of rock to the left was found along a dirt road near the Maya ruins of Uxmal in Mexico. And, no, it did not come from the protected site it self. (Click here to see pictures of Uxmal.)

To make the glass enclosed shadow box, I added 3/4 inch wood around the border of a 1/4 inch plywood backing. The white background material was placed on top of the plywood. Then the vertical edges of the raised border were covered with strips of the maroon mat. The double mat lay on top of this. The rock samples were glued to the back mat with epoxy adhesive.

Cutting mats doesn't mean all straight edges. Using some templates or a "compass", other patterns can be made as shown in the semi-circular mat of a charcoal drawing of a German castle.

Free hand cutting can be incorporated to parts of the mat. Here I tried to compliment the flowers in the bottom of two tall prints. Perhaps this is a bit too busy, but it shows what can be done with a bit of patience.

A lady from Cincinnati asked me if I could cut a mat with openings that have the shape of letters (her daughter's name), so she could insert pictures. I tried this first on an easy name, Ava (our youngest grand-daughter), and then did the more complicated "Katharyn".

"How long does this take?" you might ask. Well, after some experience, the cutting of a simple double mat may take 10 to 15 minutes. Of course, as the design becomes more complicated the time increases. The extreme board below took me several days of cutting in the evening. It is the border for a series of drawings copied from prehistoric Hopi Indian pottery. The black mat has a black interior making the relief of the red mat more dramatic. It is the same as the picture on top of this page.

Some of these mats are amongst the "junk" hanging in my office. Here is a panoramic view of some of this memorabilia. It includes flutes and hats from different cultures, wooden ice skates I used in Holland, a stone flask from Tierra del Fuego, and lots of other unusual souvenirs with fond memories to go with each.