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Customizing the custom frame: framers share tips of the trade
Art Business News, April, 2003 by Carol King
Framers are artisans as well as craftsmen. Face it. If your job is to enhance a work of art, you have to approach it with an artistic eye.
While cutting and joining moulding are given elements in any framer's work day, some successful picture framers take novel steps to highlight their creativity, artistic flair and keen insight into their customers' expectations of a finished product.
In many cases, framers are "customizing" custom framing jobs by hand-making the frame or staining and gold leafing moulding, marbleizing matboard or etching glass. These techniques boost customer satisfaction to new levels as well as differentiate framers from their competitors, according to several successful shops.
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Tailoring the Frame
"There is a difference between someone who assembles a frame and a picture framer who has a vision of the finished product," said Edie Werchadlo, frame shop manager for Noroton Gallery and Frame Studio LLC. "It is very much like the difference between buying clothing off the rack or having your wardrobe custom-made."
Recently, Werchadlo tailor-made a moulding in her Darien, Conn.-based shop to meet a customer's request for a moulding color she didn't have. Werchadlo matched the color working from raw wood. She first distressed the wood by beating it with a metal chain. Then she sanded it, applied four applications of wood stain to get the wood as dark as the customer wanted. The frame was then sealed with Butcher's Wax, buffed, then cut and joined.
"When the customer saw the finished product, she was extremely pleased" said Werchadlo. "The job cost her about $175, but the word-of-mouth advertising [she will provide] is the best promotion you can get."
Dressing up the Matboard
Painting on the matboard personalizes the artwork, which provides the customer with an added value, pointed out Meg Peters, owner of Finer Frames in Meridian, Idaho. "Sometimes I'll paint in the kids' names when I get a family photograph or etch them on the glass," she said. Recently, Peters framed a wedding invitation and embossed the stationery's pattern onto the glass.
"I get very excited when I come up with an idea that makes a customer feel special" said Peters. "Customers appreciate the creativity"
Sometimes she will refinish and hand-paint a frame to more closely match the artwork. "Decorative rubber stamps can also dress up the matboard," said Peters. "For instance, I've used stamps of bones and dogs on the matboard when framing pet portraits."
Working the Window
"People tend to feed off our window displays, which generate new ideas for our clientele," said Charlie Barnes, owner of The Custom Framer in Highland Park, Ill. "We are located in an upscale, high-end urban area. With any frame shop, the more samples you have, the easier it is to sell your work. People like to buy what they cannot find elsewhere."
Barnes' framers double as artists. "My staff will take a raw wood panel frame and paint it to match a poster as an extension of the artwork," he said. For certain projects, Barnes will do a hand-marbled finish and add a Hicks corner, or he will crackle frames. "Recently we framed a leopard print using a French paper overlay on the mat so the panel on the mat picked out the leopard design," he said. "The matting and artwork all tied together. We then chose a deep orange Birds Eye maple frame to pick out the background tints so the entire work blended together."
Cutting Corners
Applying composition corners is a creative technique employed by Linda Wassell, CPF, at Frame Craft/Lampros Gallery in Woodlands, Texas. "Composition is a pliable, putty-like substance that is pressed into molds to form decorative ornaments that can be applied to frames," she explained. "When steam is applied, it activates glue within the mixture and makes the ornament flexible so it is able to conform and bond with the frame. The ornaments can then be gilded, stained or painted to suit the design."
The compo corners can be used on most wood frames. "You have to keep in mind the style and period of the frame and of course do something appropriate to enhance the artwork," she said. "The compo corners give a more customized look, and providing customized work is what sets our business apart. People like the idea of having something done particularly for them and for their art." She estimates that, on average, the compo corners cost customers about $30 each.
"We promote the shop as providing customized work," Wassell added. "We will show our customers molding samples but make sure they know that we can do unique finishes to match the picture more closely or provide a richer patina."
Taking a Tone
Frame toning, gilding and touch ups are offered by The Art Seller and Frame Shop in Banner Elk, N.C. "We use different pigments, from pastels to acrylics, wall pigments, gold leaf and powders," said framer Cheryl Crocker. "We work with whatever we can find to alter the finish of the frame and work with the piece. Crocker will tone down a black frame with silver or green or change the color completely." She also creates crackle finishes, which makes the frame truly customized.
