“Gin” was the Fine Art Trade Guild’s theme for the 2019 ‘Guild Framing Challenge’. So how to portray a drink in a frame?

Video of my entry

I feel my background in display design helped me to create this piece as I approached it as I would a retail window display. After all a box frame is just like a shop window.

I wanted to highlight the great variety of gin that is currently out there, and so that is where the gin bottle labels came into it. I used a wonderful collection of label designs as a collage to cover the depth of a deep frame. I then redesigned the Fine Art Trade Guild logo to become a label adapting it to read ‘Fine Art Trade Gin’ with the master portrayed holding a bottle of gin.

I thought about the look of a typical bar where you would find a bottle of gin and decided to use mirrors to line the box inside.

I carved out the inside of the box to thread through a strip of colour changing LED lights, which are often found behind a bar. The battery box was hidden at the back of the frame and operated with a small remote control.

Thinking about gin as a drink, the famous name for me that has to go with it is Gordon’s. Looking at the selection of Gordon’s gin products, the idea came to me: Why not use the various forms of gin produced to spell out the word gin? I used the Gordon’s G on the label of a small bottle, a can of Gordon’s pre-mixed canned G & T for the letter I with a slice of lemon over it. The leeter N was created with two miniatures connected with ice cubes, while a slice of lemon represented the dot over the I.

To finish off I decorated TruVue 70% anti reflective glass with silver bubble stickers as well as back mirror, evoking the fizz of the famous gin and tonic.