Nice shop photo there, framah! But quite frankly, I am shocked by all the open floor space and easy access to tools that you have allowed to accumulate. There's help available, I'll say no more.
In regards to the types of moulding I use, about half of it is polystyrene that gives me a killer price point that makes me the terror of the few remaining art fairs I attend. The public loves it, framers hate it, galleries no longer care as long as it looks really good. The best looking 3 to 5 inch polys now look better than almost any wood moulding that can be bought for less than $6/foot in quantity. Be aware that most poly is crud, but 1 or 2% is superb until the supplier decides to go with the cheapest factory on the next run.
But there can be problems with even the best looking poly profiles. There is a packaging genius somewhere in China, and the attached photo shows you an example of his brilliant work. Discovered this only yesterday. I've got 20 more such boxes, and it's all going back. This is what framers have to deal with. I use everything up through the $20/ft moulding used my Mr. Lik, although I think it's the ugliest stuff on Earth. Sorry, no names will be named, I invested a heck of lot of time and money picking and testing those mouldings. Go to the WCAF show for more information.
Yes, BC Pura Velvet is a nice option to canvas, with a100% yield. But I wish it weren't so damned curly. It's got remarkable punch *for a matte paper* and seems to me as snappy as Epson Cold Press Bright, but without the OBA's. When varnished it pops up quite a bit, but you need custom profiles from varnished targets to make full use of that. As with the Epson "cold" papers the texture is quite pronounced and mechanically repetitive, which may or may not be a problem aesthetically. But it's a whole lot less mechanical looking than most canvases that are out there now, which is a look I just can't tolerate any more, especially when I see my old corrugated-surface canvas prints next to other more organic artwork surfaces. That upsets me, and it's a big competitive disadvantage where you work is seen next to original paintings, etc. But none of the manufacturers will listen to me on these topics, and I've tried. FWIW, Fredrix 777 has the best and most organic looking canvas surface right now, and its excellent reflective qualities when varnished usually make it the best looking canvas on the wall, in spite of having a rather meager gamut.
Am now experimenting with varnished Silver Rag. SR has the most stipple of any rich looking gloss media I have tried. That stipple carries on through several varnishing steps to create a more-or-less art paper looking type of surface. There are a few issues, but so far so good and I'm taking a chance by testing it at a major art fair next week. The pieces I have completed so far are rather stunning, even my jaded self is impressed. Tried also coating some of the Barytas, of which the new BC version is the best looking by far. However, because of the smooth surfaces on that type of media it's very difficult to get an artsy surface after varnishing. Every minute speck of dust is conspicuous on the nearly gloss varnished Baryta surfaces, whereas that it is not an issue on the stipply varnished SR surface.
All the media discussed here glues quite easily to Gator using LaminAll or Miracle Muck, which is the only way I have mounted art for a few years now. In comparison to canvas, you should let the glue get a little tackier before rolling on art paper prints, and be extra careful about removing little glue buggers and dirt before rolling the prints, because you can not press those down as you can with canvas.
So there!
