The Research Laboratory

08 May 2016

This frame was made for a friend in exchange for some family photography. I really liked the book theme and wanted to capture that in the form of a library. I drew inspiration from the novella The Breathing Method by Stephen King in which an attorney starts visiting a wealthy men's club in Manhattan where strange things are seen and understood to be happening but questions are expected not to be asked. The club houses fantastic books no one outside has ever heard of, a pool table of outstanding construction by a company he can find no documentation on, et cetera. The books are made of pine that I shaved rough spines into with a hand-planer and painted with colors found on book spines in the 1930s thru the 1950s. They have no discernible character sets, titles, or figures as I did not want to draw attention away from the print itself. This is one of the biggest frames I've made and measures roughly 3'x3'. This is one of my most ambitious frames and I am pleased with the outcome.

Brooke Shaden's prints can be found on her gallery.

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