Lacey created this magical, dreamlike design for this children’s art piece by Ida Outhwaite.
Hand drawn designs on picture frame mats bring whimsy and creativity to ordinary designs! They also lend a sense of history to drawings, prints, and photos. French style matting actually most likely originated in Italy, when artists began drawing lines around thumbnails in their sketchbooks to highlight successful studies for future reference. These lines took on a life of their own and began to appear on finished artwork. The lines are traditionally made with a ruling pen and ink; and then the panels are added with watercolor, pastel or marbled papers. 
Today’s “french mats” can be traditional but are more often seen modernized with hand drawn elements, border-breaking drawing and unconventional materials. Our examples here use colored pencil, ruling pen, metallic ink, linen panels, acrylic, pastel and more! The lines no longer are static, illustrations can be seen as more like an illuminated manuscript than a traditional french mat.
Ida created this more traditional mat for this dreamy piece. A nod to modern: the inlay panel is cut from one piece of linen. Nebula and stars are lightly drawn in too!
Words, phrases and names can be added to mats, too! A plain mat is nice, but an illuminated mat is truly unique and relates directly to the art it contains. Limited only by their imaginations, picture framers can come up with thousands of colors and designs to suit the artwork being framed.
Needlepoint looks amazing with illuminated, illustrative matting too! Check out the little details on this Halloween needlepoint. Fun!
Words, phrases and names can be added to mats, too! A plain mat is nice, but an illuminated mat is truly unique and relates directly to the art it contains. Limited only by their imaginations, picture framers can come up with thousands of colors and designs to suit the artwork being framed.
Needlepoint looks amazing with illuminated, illustrative matting too! Check out the little details on this Halloween needlepoint. Fun!
We at the Frame & I are hoping we can create an illuminated mat for you someday! Grab a print or photo you love and let’s talk about it 🙂 Keep scrolling to see more examples!
Thanks for reading,
Ida
HaHa Mat
Alice Cooper in a spooky black leather, bloody handprint mat and mechanical frame.