Quis faci?

A Classical-Modern Framing Conundrum

FACT: the Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the greatest museums in the world. Its period rooms and incredible special exhibits always command international attention, but its modern collection, in my opinion, is unparalleled. I felt this way even during all the years I lived nearer to NYC, and was a member of the Met (whose 20th – 21st Century collection still remains inexplicably lackluster). It has been my pleasure to be a member of "The Art Museum" since the minute I moved to Philly.


Some stand-outs: (Left) Sol LeWitt, On A Blue Ceiling, Eight Geometric Figures: Circle, Trapezoid, Parallelogram, Rectangle, Square, Triangle, Right Triangle, X. And (Right) Marcel Duchamp, Etant Donnes (see the retrospective exhibit NOW!)

Occasionally, the Museum hosts tours of its frames (yay!), and I attend with bells on. A few years ago, during a tour of contemporary frames, my small group stood in the Cy Twombly gallery. The guide pointed out something that should have been obvious to me: most of the canvases in the room were too large to fit through the door. She offered no concrete explanation, but left it to us to silently ponder.

I have thought about it some: the canvases were certainly stretched in the room. I do not accept that the door was finished after canvases were in.

Canvas stretching is one of the services we offer at the shop. Usually, a client will come in with a rolled canvas and want it stretched on wooden stretcher bars and then framed. A traditional look will include a linen liner, and a more contemporary look will put the frame directly on the canvas. An ultramodern look might involve a floating frame OR a gallery-wrapped canvas.

A gallery wrap means the canvas is stretched and stapled to the back of the stretcher bars, rather than stapled to the sides, which is typical when the piece is going into a regular frame. When the canvas is stapled to the back of the bars, and the image extends onto the sides of the bars, then there is a clean, finished edge and suitable for display sans frame.

Here's a proper gallery wrap done at the shop.

Then back to these Twomblys: to my horror I discover they have EXPOSED side staples! (?!?) Furthermore, they’re not even stretched neatly—the staples are not evenly spaced or angled the same way. Huh? What framer would do this and defy their sworn oath? Quis Faci?!

My theory: Perhaps this was in the artist’s instructions….to have the stretch be as visceral (a crazy scribbly mess) as the art. However you feel about Twombly’s work, he may actually be quite thoughtful and consistent.

PS. I am fond of Twombly’s work, particularly this gallery in the museum. However his stuff really annoys most everyone I love and admire.

The Big Picture

Oh, the movie is coming out soon! I caught a glimpse of some of my framing in the first couple of seconds of this trailer. (I think I framed over 20 pieces all told for this flick, if you'll recall.)

Shout Out

The new issue of Philadelphia Home Magazine, a quarterly supplement to Philadelphia Magazine, includes a great article with designer Kevin Derrick, who is a local authority on the proper display of art. Knows his stuff. Singled us out (ok we're one of 2) as his favorite framer.

Thanks, yo.

PDF of the article can be found here.

Momma's Frugal Framer Loves Shortnin' Shortnin'...

a guestblog by Frugal Frames Owner, Mark Muhlig

hazelnut shortbread

Our customers are real people…not just walking wallets ripe for the picking. Yes we make a profit on what we do, but we pride ourselves on not mugging them. It’s an industry image that we have had to struggle with ever since we opened in 1996. You know the scenario…walk in with a decent poster; get quoted well over 400 bucks for a simple frame job. Bingo…lost profits and a disillusioned consumer who probably won’t step into another frame shop for a decade. Because of this gouging behavior, thousands of potential customers have been thrown away and I have never even met them, let alone quoted them a price.

But alas, this post is not about money. No, quite the opposite.

It’s about cookies.

Delicious home-cooked-from-scratch cookies, brownies, lemon bars…anything that comes from the heart, requires a little effort, and tastes like a slice of heaven.

We love our customers (most of them anyway). We will go the extra mile for them whenever possible to show them that we value their business. The problem is, we don’t have a chart that quantifies that little something extra. Sure we could put a timer on it and ask for cold hard cash. But we are not Taxi Drivers.

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. A Lady customer of ours realized that in a short three days her Wedding Anniversary was coming due. She had nothing but an old Blue Print of a Ship that her Husband had under the bed, hoping one day to frame it. She grabbed it and rushed it to us wondering if it was possible to get the job done.

Mind you, this was not some quickie dry mount with a cheap metal frame job. She wanted double matting, a fine wood frame, a good mount and quality glass. My wife was taking the order as I listened from the production room. It all sounded reasonable to me, but since I was going out of my way, I wanted something for my efforts.

I leaned out of the small room and asked, “Do you bake?”

She glanced at my wife, puzzled, and then back to me, “Uh, you mean like cookies or brownies?”

“Yes,” I responded, “I am a terrible baker and my kids love to eat ‘em. If I’m going to make you very happy in three days, could you bless me with some of your baked goods?”

She lit up with a big smile, “Absolutely, no problem, consider it done.”

In three short days, she had her husband’s present and my wife and kids had a tin full of home cooked brownies (with and without walnuts).

Now this sort of transaction pleases me in so many ways.

A] My kids have brownies
B] I’m a great cook but a terrible baker
C] The customer and I have entered into a relationship that doesn’t involve money.
D] It’s awful neighbourly.
E] It reminds me of times long past.

This brings us to our latest confectionary treat: Elaine is involved in several local groups (mostly involving mommies and/or crafts) where the subject quite often turns to art and subsequently framing. Now this is Center City Philadelphia, with a ton of fine restaurants, chefs and bakers. A few of which happen to be in these same circles. Elaine came to me with a request. Can she offer a bit of a discount to her friends in these groups?

This put my inner Ferengi into a little conflict. I thought about it for a moment…and asked,

“Do they bake?”

Valhrona chocolate

Science!

Sometimes I really do split the atom.


A client interested in conservation turned up at my door to discuss framing some Swedish stamps. He requested that they be handled only with gloves (hand oils), that they be mounted without any adhesive whatsoever, and that the stamps be floating in the framing design.

To float an item in framing terminology means to display every square micrometer of the item. Most often, items are matted, which means that an opening is cut in a mat to reveal the image. The opening is generally cut 1/8" - 1/4" smaller than the item to slightly cover the edges. This holds the item down and gives a sharp edge. Normally, items with unusual or interesting edges are floated so those characteristics can be viewed. The deckled edge of a stamp is a great example. Adhesives must be used in a float design. How else would the item stay up?

And then I remembered that my old buddy Chas had taken a class in encapsulation. A new mounting technique that is adhesive-free. Even in a float situation.

First a layer of thin duralar (a clear acetate-like product that is archival) is adhered to the mat using a thin strip of ATG at the top. Here the top mat has already been museum-hinged with linen tape.

Then the stamps are positioned on top of the duralar. More ATG is applied around the stamps and a second sheet of duralar is applied on top. The stamps are between the two sheets and they are kept in place by static electricity!

Voila!

Closet Goths

are among us!

It started when dear friends/neighbors arrived at the shop with GORGEOUS oversize archival print photos.

Here are The Professors atop Notre Dame.

and here a Vision of Joan of Arc!

Note the dark, ornate, Victorian frames selected. Perfect!

And then one of my favorite customers showed up with this freak show a few days later ...

Naked Angel with Satyrs

Weird Mannequin at Dinner Party for One

Detail with crazy-shape mat-opening, cut by moi!

These clients looked like nice, normal people. Who knew they had such dark, creepy sides lurking within? And what would possess them to think I could appreciate that aesthetic?

hmmmm.

Coincidences

Whether you're playing cards or working in a retail frame shop, always pay attention to coincidences.

The topic of this blog came to me tonight as I was speaking with an old framing buddy. He was explaining that he had recently come through a period where he made a lot of double-sided frames for a variety of clients in a short period of time. Double-sided frames are hardly the norm...a regular shop maybe does one or two in a year, but things do tend to come in waves sometimes.

For instance, earlier this week, a client walked in off the street. She wanted to discuss a project she needed in a rush. She works in a very prestigious archive and needed to present 2 framed copies of a historical document to visiting foreign dignitaries. The document? Oh yeah, it was written and signed by George Washington.

I asked, "Do you know I framed an original George Washington letter last month?"

After all, I did blog about it AND put in on my Facebook ; )

She claimed she was unaware.

"I can authenticate that signature for you," I said jokingly to the prestigious archivist.

Evidently my historical document humor needs work.

Anyhoo, I don't recall ever framing George Washington stuff before, and here I was being honored by framing 2 unrelated important docs in a month. Hunh.