Customizing the custom frame: framers share tips of the trade

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.

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.

"Some frames come in very limited colors, and some frame colors do not keep up with trends in art," Crocker pointed out. "In those cases, we'll paint over a frame and pull the wash off to reveal the gold and the hint of color, depending on the piece. You can also apply pure pigment that is used to make the paint. When you put a wash of color on a raw wood frame, it can make a dressy fit."

Perfecting Profiles

Nelson Petrovich, owner of Nelson Fine Art Framing in Laguna Beach, Calif., often constructs his own profiles. "I am a regular picture framer with an artistic nature," said Petrovich. "I like to come up with my own profiles, and I can cut my own wood and shape it to a painting." Petrovich also makes frames out of lead, steel, iron or bole finishes. "My bent is that I have good judgment and design capabilities, and people bring their artwork to me," he said.

His framing prices range from $300 to thousands of dollars, he noted. "I am fortunate to be located in an affluent marketplace. My clients are multi-millionaires, and museums of art recommend me. I have the ability to come up with different profiles and to nonce where me light captures the gilding. I have built tabernacle frames that are church size, which took about three or four people a month to make, working eight hours a day."

Imported Items

Boris Bezroukov, owner of Boris Artistry in Framing in Beverly Hills, Calif., reported that he has a reputation for offering avant-garde framing. "We like to do unusual combinations," he said. "I will buy bamboo from a lumberyard and make a frame for a jungle print. We will use a white gold leafing inside and a burlap or silk mat-board. Once this is put together, all you need are the giraffes."

The business also offers hand-carved frames and parchment frames that are imported from Colombia. "The parchment frames are unique in that they have a resemblance to leather. They come in red, orange and yellow, and we take a color and match it. For instance, we use these frames for black-and-white photos and will incorporate an ivory frame laid over with white gold."

The firm also hand makes and matches wood frames. "We use Malacca, a wood that has a lot of grain, which was very popular in furniture during the 1930s to 50s. The wood has long strips of dark wood, then lighter shades. We make frames from that and tint the lighter part in red. The response we get to this is off the charts."

Cashing In?

Although many framers enjoy the creative elements of customizing their custom framing projects, they also admitted the pay off is not always spectacular.

"Frame shops can charge more for a gilding project, but everything is relative. Time and materials are factors," noted Alan P. Shuptrine of Gold Leaf Designs and Gallery in Chattanooga, Tenn. "I cannot say if you profit more than when you cut and put together stock moulding, because you are targeting a smaller market and the amount of labor involved is not comparable," continued Shuptrine, an expert on gold leafing and related decorative finishes. "Because of the expense of gilding, it is usually reserved for original works of art. Yet, we have done gilded handmade frames for people who value their stamp collections or diplomas or maps. Anything that is cherished by an individual must be treated like a priceless diamond or gemstone that is enhanced by a setting."

Constant innovation can have its drawbacks, noted Petrovich of Nelson's Fine Art Framing. "I make money at this because it is labor," he said, "but when every frame is handcrafted, the proposition can be money-losing from the get-go. When someone wants a brand new frame with a new finish, it's easy to do. When you are reinventing the wheel with each piece, it costs time and money."

Customizing is almost never cost-effective, noted Werchadlo of Noroton Gallery and Frame Studio. "You have to regard the project as a labor of love and do the job for someone who has the money to spend," she advised.

"Framers work under the conditions of a short-order cook, but they are expected to be in the category of a violin maker," she continued. "Yet, you cannot discriminate. You have to offer the services to all of your customers and hope they return for repeat sales down the line."

SOURCES

The Art Seller and Frame Shop, (828) 898-FRAME

Boris Artistry in Framing, (310) 275-8312

The Custom Framer, (847) 432-4630

Designs Ink, (661) 821-2188

Finer Frames, (208) 888-9898

Frame Craft/Lampros Gallery, (281) 367-6526

Gold Leaf Designs and Gallery, (423) 266-4453

Nelsen Fine Art Framing, (949) 494-6696

Noroton Gallery and Frame Studio, (203) 655-9687

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