September Featured Artist: Katie McAuley
Katie McAuley | An Artist Caring for the Work of Other Artists
The American Frame Artist Spotlight series celebrates artists whose creative lives shape how they see, make, and present art. This month, we’re especially pleased to feature Katie McAuley, an artist and longtime member of the American Frame team whose own creative practice informs the care she brings to the work entrusted to us every day.
Katie pairs a Teal Nielsen metal frame with Wheat and Marigold mats, carrying color from the artwork into the finished presentation.
About the Artist: Katie McAuley
Katie has been drawing for as long as she can remember.
When it came time to choose a direction for college, she knew art needed to remain central to her life.
“I knew that I wouldn’t be happy doing anything unless it involved art.”
She worked as a caricature artist throughout high school and college before studying at Bowling Green State University, where she explored multiple studio disciplines and continued developing her own visual language.
Her connection to American Frame actually began while she was still a student.
One of Katie’s paintings had been accepted into an exhibition and needed to be framed. Her professor, artist Dennis Wojtkiewicz, recommended American Frame.
There was just one complication: Katie had procrastinated until very close to the show deadline.
American Frame framed the painting and rushed it through production in time for the exhibition.
Years later, the company that helped her get a painting exhibition-ready became the place where she now helps other artists do the same.
Katie’s work blends detailed portraiture with bold color and unexpected elements, reflecting her playful approach to pop surrealism.
Pop Surrealism, Oil Paint, and a Little Bit of Weird
Katie primarily works in oil paint, creating pieces she describes as falling somewhere within pop surrealism.
Her paintings combine detailed, almost photographic rendering with unexpected elements that push the image toward fantasy.
“I enjoy rendering and adding the kind of details you get from photographs,” she explains, “but love adding in weird bits and pieces to my works.”
Her ideas often begin just as playfully.
Katie follows artists online and is surrounded by creative friends. Conversations about what everyone is making frequently turn into ideas of their own.
“Some of my favorite paintings have started as jokes between us or as a small spitball of an idea that snowballed into something larger.”
That combination of technical skill, curiosity, and humor gives her work a distinctive personality.
How Being an Artist Informs Her Work at American Frame
Katie has spent the past five years working in American Frame’s Art Intake Department, where her artistic background shapes how she approaches one of the most important stages of the framing process.
Every day, original artwork arrives at American Frame in many different ways. An individual customer may send in a single piece for personal framing. An artist or photographer may send work intended for a client. A gallery, designer, institution, or commercial partner may entrust us with artwork as part of a much larger project.
Regardless of where it comes from or where it is going, every piece is treated with the same level of care and integrity.
Katie and her colleague Scarlet are responsible for receiving and cataloging that work. Each piece is inspected, measured, matched to its order, documented, and prepared for production.
It is a critical role because what arrives at American Frame is not simply another component of an order. It may be an original painting, a limited-edition print, a photograph, a family heirloom, or a work an artist has spent months creating.
Katie understands that instinctively.
“I know I’ve put my blood, sweat and tears into some of my favorite works,” she says, “so I handle every piece that comes through our doors with the same level of care as I would with any of my own work.”
Her artistic background also informs the precision the role requires.
“Being an artist has helped me pay attention to the small details when it comes to looking over orders and artwork that we receive.”
Before a frame is cut or a mat opening is created, someone has already taken responsibility for understanding exactly what has been entrusted to us.
For many American Frame customers, that someone is Katie.
Katie brings an artist’s perspective to framing, carefully considering color, materials, and presentation alongside the artwork.
Framing Color with Color
That same artist’s eye comes through in Katie’s own framing choices.
When a work is bright and colorful, she does not automatically believe the frame needs to fade into the background.
“When I’m framing a bright and colorful piece of mine, it’s hard to resist having the framing be dull in comparison.”
For one recent print, Katie created an island float presentation with a double mat, using Marigold (8454) beneath Wheat (8462).
The narrow reveal of Marigold pulls the orange and warmer tones forward from the artwork, while the Wheat mat provides breathing room and closely relates to the tone of the paper.
She completed the presentation with a Teal Nielsen TW258 Metal Picture Frame.
Its darker tone creates definition around the bright print, but the color itself is anything but neutral. Under the right light, the teal relates directly to the background of the artwork.
The treatment demonstrates something Katie understands both as an artist and as a framing professional: restraint does not always mean removing color. Sometimes the strongest presentation comes from knowing which colors to carry beyond the artwork itself.
Framing Materials Used
For this featured work, Katie selected:
Frame: Teal Nielsen TW258 Metal Picture Frame
Top Mat: Wheat (8462)
Accent Mat: Marigold (8454)
Presentation: Double mat with an island float
Together, the materials create separation around a visually energetic work without disconnecting the framing from the artwork itself.
Katie also recommends working with physical frame and mat samples whenever possible.
“Take advantage of the samples any chance that you get!”
As someone who admits she can be indecisive herself, Katie finds it invaluable to compare several materials directly against the artwork. Color, finish, proportion, and texture can look very different beside the actual piece than they do in isolation.
A closer look at Katie’s framing choices, where a Teal Nielsen frame and layered Wheat and Marigold mats pull color directly from the artwork.
Why Presentation Matters
Much of Katie’s work is created on paper, making framing important for reasons beyond aesthetics.
“Framing gives them the extra little bit of professionalism, as well as protects them from any damage over time.”
Her own framing preferences depend entirely on the artwork.
For colorful pieces, Katie gravitates toward brighter metal frame finishes, allowing the artwork and frame to visually flow together. When she wants the artwork to command all of the attention, she turns to a classic black wood frame.
There isn’t one frame that works for everything, and that is precisely the point.
The frame becomes another artistic decision.
What’s Next: Weird Characters Meet the Myspace Era
Katie’s newest body of work may be her most playful yet.
Earlier this year, she created a painting for a local fundraiser benefiting the Toledo School for the Arts. The piece featured Steve Buscemi’s character from the 1996 film Fargo, layered with graphics and stickers inspired by the Myspace era.
Now she wants to take the idea further.
Katie is developing a series using other memorable and unconventional actors and actresses, combining carefully rendered portraits with the visual language and nostalgia of early social media.
It’s an idea that feels distinctly Katie: technically accomplished, culturally familiar, and just strange enough to make you look twice.
Artist Advice: Don’t Guess. Look.
Katie’s advice to fellow artists about framing is wonderfully practical:
“Take advantage of the samples any chance that you get.”
Place frame corners beside the artwork. Compare mat colors. Look at finishes in different light. See what happens when a color from the artwork is repeated in the frame and what happens when the frame deliberately steps away from it.
Framing is visual. The best way to make the decision is to see the possibilities alongside the artwork itself.
And perhaps Katie has one additional piece of advice to offer without actually saying it.
Treat the work with care.
She does it with her own paintings. And every day at American Frame, she does it with yours.
Artist Spotlight FAQs
Q. What does an art handler do at American Frame?
A. American Frame’s Art Intake team receives artwork delivered through the showroom or shipped to our facility for framing. Each piece is inspected, measured, documented, matched to its order, and prepared for production. Whether the artwork belongs to an individual customer, artist, photographer, gallery, designer, institution, or commercial client, it is handled according to the same careful intake process.
Q. What is pop surrealism?
A. Pop surrealism is a contemporary art movement that often combines traditional art techniques with imagery influenced by popular culture, fantasy, humor, illustration, and surrealism. Katie McAuley’s oil paintings pair detailed rendering with unexpected elements that give familiar subjects a strange or fantastical quality.
Q. How can artists use colorful frames without distracting from their artwork?
A. A colorful frame can complement artwork when its color relates intentionally to something within the piece. Katie often uses colorful metal picture frames with brighter work, selecting tones that extend or reinforce colors within the composition. Matting can provide visual space between the artwork and frame when additional separation is needed.
Q. What is an island float mat presentation?
A. An island float presentation allows the edges of a work on paper to remain visible rather than covering them with the opening of a traditional mat. The artwork appears to float within the surrounding mat area. Katie combined an island float with layered Wheat and Marigold mats to introduce color while giving the artwork room to breathe.
Q. Should artists order frame and mat samples before framing their work?
A. Samples can be especially helpful when choosing among frame finishes and mat colors because materials can look different when placed directly beside the artwork and viewed under different lighting. Katie recommends comparing samples with the actual piece before making a final framing decision, particularly when incorporating color into the presentation.