Mounting Akhenaten – Part One
Akhenaten has been glaring at me autocratically (well, that’s in character, at least!) from the far side of the living room ever since I finished him, and I decided he needed to be off the frame and hidden away for a while. At the moment, I’m rather out of love with him, not even sure he’s come close to my original conception. I need to hide him away so that I can move on Other Things.
I took this photo just before I cut the thread holding the fabric in place, and you can see from the shadows just how strongly raised some elements are.
I think he’s looking pretty anxious about what lies ahead, as well!
I don’t think Akhenaten can possibly be as anxious as I am. We have a phrase in our house – “exporting stress”. There was a lot of that going on. In fact, I banished The Australian from the room lest I prove contagious!
However, I read, a little while ago, of using layers of bubble wrap to protect a raised piece while mounting, with holes or popped bubbles to alter the amount of padding so that the most highly-raised elements don’t also suffer the highest pressure. Considering the fragility of the uraeus, that’s important.
So I decided to give that a try. I’ll report when the whole process is finished!
And it’s going to be quite a process, because there are three layers of fabric to wrangle, and I’m not going to frame him under glass, so the mounting is going to be on display, at least to a degree.
I’ve started by lacing the long sides of the calico supporting layer, quite closely, to spread out the tension, and then the short sides. These were spread out a bit more, and I also stitched the edges of the folded-up short sections to the calico sides.
He looks really impressive seen through that rectangular space in the bubble wrap. I suspect that he will please you more when there is much less pinky-beige background showing around him. Some experiments with cut paper mounts might surprise you pleasantly.
I tend to get far too stressed when trying to mount things. Take it slowly and relax before doing any irrevocable bits. Good luck!
Good luck with the mounting Rachel! I am sure he will look perfect once completely finished. But I do know what you mean about not looking at a finished piece for a while. We always thought that the RSN should have an in-house psychologist to help students deal with post-finishing issues …
Good luck. Looks good so far!
Good luck, Rachel. This would take patience, and I can see that it could also “export stress” to an undeserving husband. We have the same problem at our house–sometimes before we even realize we are experiencing it ourselves.
Oh my goodness, what a task you have there, no wonder you are stressed! What a brilliant tip though, about using bubble wrap to protect the projecting bits while lacing the back, I shall pass that on to some of my embroidery friends (those who are more likely to finish things than me!!)
Good luck, I hope he smiles on you when you are done – if not, turn him to the wall until he behaves more charitably!!
Good luck with this.
He has sparkling eyes!
Good luck!