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Beginnings - How did everyone start out in framing?

C

Christine Ryan

Participant
Messages
14
Loc
Sydney, Australia
Company
Pic-To-Frame
(OOps - just put this question to the events forum by mistake and don't know how to delete)

Hi. Just wondering how everyone started out in framing & when can I actually call myself a framer??
There seems to be no regulations and few courses available hear in Sydney (unless I am yet to discover some). I have no shop experience (but looks like I have secured a Saturday job in a framing store) and a 4 day course behind me.
I have done a handful of framing jobs for friends and more recently for a small gallery owner and a local high school. It looks like my work load is about to increase!
There is so much yet to learn but, being middle aged, I feel I have to fast track!! (I feel like a fake for claiming to be a custom picture framer and yet have had no complaints about my framing jobs.)
How and at what stage of life did other framers begin - I would be interested in your stories if you would like to share.
Thanks:sneakiness:​
 
The PPFA is quite active in Australia, and their convention is an excellent venue for classes. Every two years it is co-located with The Sydney Framing Show at the Convention Center in Darling Harbor. Last year Rob Markoff and I traveled there to teach classes and share some American framing practices. I hope to return next year, as well.

A frequent forum visitor is Ormond Williams, a framer from Port Macquarie, NSW and the PPFA President in Australia. If you contact him, I'm sure he can get you all the information on the learning opportunities available in your area.
 
Hello Christine,
I gather, that you like to become a full time pictureframer. You can register to sit the Certified Picture Framer exam and purchase the necessary books. Study these books; there are courses perhaps online called CPF preparatory classes that help you prepare for the exam. The CPF Exam can be done on-line.
Apart from that Sophie Brown offers framing courses with emphasis on conservation framing. She is based in Sydney.
I started off in framing, because my father was a framer. I studied and worked in horticulture before that, but got back-problems.
 
Hi. Well the course I did was recommended to me via Ormond in Port Macquarie - it was a June Anderson course and the emphasis was on conservation framing which I am interested in. I have a lot of books to read.
The average Australian that I have come across does not seem to have the money to spend on or sees the necessity of using conservation materials - I know it is up to me to inform them without it sounding like an 'upsell'.
I am obviously a long way from sitting the exam but don't you need to have at least a year or two solid experience in the industry before you are even eligible to sit?
Yes, I did go to the last framing show and sat in one of your classes Jim - I was fresh out of my course and it was a lot to take in - I would now benefit more if I was to attend the same again now. I will definitely be at the next one.
 
I suppose a framer needs to be situated in a certain population-base to be able to carry out conservation-work exclusively. For the same token one can say a framer cannot have enough customers, if the population-base is too small to even do basic framing.

For the above it may well be a million people within a one hour traveling distance and for the latter perhaps 5000 within a one hour driving distance.

Yes there is a one hour apprentice-period before a candidate can sit the CPF Exam. I wonder if this is more a recommendation to the candidate, than an actual rule. How it can it be checked, if a framer has only 1/2 year experience in framing and then sits the exam?
 
OK - Let's pretend it's 1976...

I haven't shared this story with too many folks.

In 1976 I was wrapping up school as a Psych major at a small liberal arts college in Wisconsin (That's what brought me to America's Dairyland). The GI Bill, and Wedding photographer kept me monetarily stable, while going to college.

Sure enough I needed a frame for a large project that I was doing and built my first frame at a DIY shop in St.Paul, Minnesota. A few months later I had another project that required a 40 multi-opening mat. :pop2: I recall getting a sheet of matboard, an Alto EZ hand held mat cutter and spread out on the dining room table. I quickly realized that I needed some stability so C-clamped a straight edge as I cut each opening. Believe it or not....I didn't screw up one opening! :thumb:

A visit to a another DIY shop in Oshkosh, WI and I had now completed my second framing job....this one was actually sold to a photo client.

...Fast forward a few months later. Now finished with school...what does a Psych major do with his life? Well....At a craft show a few weeks later, another photographer told me that he planned on opening a frame shop in Milwaukee. We both examined a well known franchise at the time, and I still remember the day the mailman delivered the literature - I knew as soon as I read through the material that this is what I was going to do....

:clap2: Moving along 7 months later... I didn't go with the franchise, but went the independent route; Found a location; Got an SBA Small Business loan at an obsurd rate; Hired one full time and one part time employee and on 12 September 1978 opened my doors.

That's how I started.....what's your story?

John

P.S. Our shop is still here... 34 years later. :D
 
Christine Ryan said:
The average Australian that I have come across does not seem to have the money to spend on or sees the necessity of using conservation materials - I know it is up to me to inform them without it sounding like an 'upsell'.
Click to expand...
G'day Christine,
Nice to see that you're here!

Many framers believe that conservation materials will not sell in their area due to income levels of the population and other issues. Many framers in my town have the same belief and some do not offer any conservation quality materials.
I believe there will be people who will pay, if they know why!

Alphamat is one product I sell that proves other framers in my area are wrong. It has been my default mat since the late 80's!

I think framers need to gain knowledge so that they can be confident in making recommendations to our customers, in relation to protecting their precious items. Obviously the choice is up to the customer, but they need to be educated so they can make an informed decision.

Photos or actual examples of damage caused by poor materials and methods can be used as a tool to educate people. Saying the right things in your conversation with customers can help educate them! Many people come to us for our expert knowledge and many will pay for the best.

It's very hazardous to prejudge anyone as to how much they will spend. Appearances can be deceiving!
It's also hazardous to think like a customer when you give a price for a frame!
 
In the 1960's I was into photography, and even did my own color work. The photography shop I went to was Mort's frame shop in down town Denver, and he carried all of the chemicals, etc.

He wanted better prices so he started a separate moulding company in the same building.

The moulding company was off limits to regular customers but they knew me will enough so I could go there too, and so I started buying framing materials and framing too. I still remember buying my first box of crescent moulding corner samples , and those flat hammer type devises for pounding the mats to have the mats stick together.
 
For John

Mr. Ranes II, A Psych, major, huh? That answers alot of the questions I've had about you over the years!!!!!
You had the GI Bill you must have served, with whom?
 
John Ranes II is a nice guy who is always willing to share his knowledge about framing with others and for that he even jumps on the plane to the other side of the world. Few of us started off as a framer straight out of High School and carried on ever since. Come to think of it, if anyone of us needs some psychological help due to stressful customer, John may well be there to help us too.
 
When I was a senior in high school I was taking AP studio art (the first year it was offered), and needed to put a portfolio together at the end of the year. My father had a friend who owned a gallery/frameshop in town, so I went to him to have some drawings matted and shrink wrapped. We got to talking, and when he found out I was staying in town for college he suggested I call him at Christmas time, when he might need some extra help. So I did. I began working during the Christmas break my first year of college, and stayed throughout my college years, working full time during summers and holidays, and on Saturdays during school. The owner was friendly with lots of people from the symphony and other arts organizations, so it was an interesting and fun place to work. After graduation I stayed full time for about another year, then left to start my own shop. That was 1977, and here I am 35 years later. About a year ago I tracked down the owner of the gallery, who is now retired and living in Florida, and we had a great conversation. I thanked him for giving me that opportunity all those years ago, and look how it worked out. He said, jokingly, "Sorry about that."
:pop2: Rick
 
My story in short

In January of 1980, I got a job in a paint store that sold art supplies, wallpaper and framing. I was hired to sell wallpaper, but couldn't wrap my brain around the measurements. (but I can now do fractions in my head) The boss put me in the paint department, which I loved. The framer was pregnant and required bed rest the last 2 months so the boss lined the other 5 employees up in the front and asked who wanted to learn to be the framer. They all stepped back quietly and left me up front. Boss said, "Excellent, Jennie! Now go learn how to frame pictures." So here I am 32 years later, loving every aspect of my 'craft', and the proud co-owner of an art gallery and custom frame shop! I love going to work each day, because no two jobs are the same.
Jennie
 
Here's a story from yet another Aussie.

I originally qualified as an electronics engineer, and started working in telecommunications back in 1971. In 2003, while still working as a general manager in telecommunications, and looking for another hobby (as if golf and genealogy weren’t enough!!), I undertook a framing course in Melbourne, after a friend had told me about how he had completed the course. This course involved about 8 nights of theory and practical work. The only thing that the course didn’t allow you to do was underpin the frames together, however mat cutting, moulding chopping, glass cutting, assembling, etc were all part of the practical work.

The course however, really only taught the basics, and there was no emphasis (or even information) on conservation practices. After the course, you were then allowed to attend their shop, and frame items, paying them only for the material you used. Feeling I was being somewhat ripped off on their material pricing, I decided to look elsewhere, and bought myself a basic hobby framers kit and established relationships with framing and glass suppliers..

After framing for friends and family for a year or so, and deciding to take early retirement from telecommunications in 2004, I then set up a home based business and upgraded my equipment to a guillotine, a Fletcher matcutter, and an underpinner, and over the past 3-4 years, have concentrated more on conservation practices, through information gleaned from being a lurker on the Grumble (and here), websites such as the FATG etc, and talking with the supplier’s reps. In 2007, I joined the PPFA, and still consider that one of the best investments I make each year.

As well as buying (and reading!!) books from the PPFA bookshop, I have attended trade nights put on by the various suppliers (a great source for information and techniques), and last year attended my first Trade show in Sydney and attended almost all of Jim’s classes (I think he was sick of seeing me sitting in his front row all the time), as well as some of Rob’s (I did his canvas stretching and strip lining course, and on return from Sydney had a customer come in with 5 canvasses for stretching that all needed strip linings!! This one job more than paid for the visit to the Trade Show and the investment in a tacking iron and BEVA234 etc, all sourced from the US!!). I also attended my first PPFA meeting at that trade Show.

We shifted house last year, and I now have my home based business in a rural town of around 5000 people. I am the only framer in the town, and still have some of my earlier customers travelling 60kms to get me to do their framing.

And by the way, I find “up selling” to conservation materials is relatively easy to do. With the right use of sample material, I find most customers are more than happy to pay the additional cost to have items framed using conservation materials. For example, the Tru-Vue samples highlighting the differences between clear/conservation clear/museum glass are pure winners; in fact, I can’t remember the last time I framed an item with standard clear glass.

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner
 
Why I started framing

Our lab was the first on-site minilab in Meridian MS 30 years ago. As grocery and drugstores started adding labs, our growing niche was scanning and restoring old photos. We purchased part of the equipment of a framer in a nearby town, but he moved without giving us any training. When we despaired of having to sending customers to a custom framer after we removed, scanned and reprinted family photos, we dragged out the dusty equipment and did our best to make us a one-stop shop for our customers. When PPFA came under the PMA umbrella and their officers were in Jackson the same time as our Retail Minilab Committee, it was my privilege to spend some time with those great folks. Meeting Kerry Wilson and Mark Klostermeyer was the turning point in my framing career. While I was in D.C. for a Small Business Summit, Kerry graciously played shuttle and hostess for hers and Mark's labs. Wow!! What an eye-opener. So that's how that silly looking sticky gun functioned. Equally exciting was being introduced to the paper-trim knife. I'm sure none of you EVER suffered that total lack of knowledge. While image production is still our main thrust, I have taken PPFA classes at almost every PMA conference. We do gallery wraps and print on our Epson 7800. Thank you PPFA for taking me under-wing. I love how framing has opened doors and added to my satisfaction in this industry.
 
Barbara AregoodHow I Started Out In Framing

I started helping out a friend who owned a gallery/custom framing shop. I listened carefully and watched closely the sales and framing staff and took classes at trade shows every chance I got. When my friend sold the business I was expecting to lose my job but the new owners kept me. A few years later when the manager retired, I was asked to take the position and I did. I really enjoyed the customer relations but enjoyed even more the creativity of custom framing! When the owners retired I was able to purchase the equipment and framing supplies to open my own business. 25+ years and I still love what I do.
 
When I was in college in Atlanta I was a customer now and then at a local Great Frame Up. Back then they did a lot of DIY framing, and being a poor college student (who still spent money on framing for some reason) I took full advantage of it, even going so far as to save the $5 joining fee by joining the frames myself with the vise and nails.

After one disastrous year teaching high school German I left that school. I thought I'd try to find another position somewhere, but German teachers tend to hold onto their jobs for a very long time. So, I needed a job until I went back to teaching.

The TGFU location I had gone to had since sold, and I went in one day to ask if they were hiring. I lost my nerve and instead asked if I could get a few picture hangers. After getting them I asked, by the way, if they were hiring. Bonnie, the new owner, told me they had just hired someone but Kathy over in Marietta was looking for someone. I went over there and within a few days I was a new framer. I haven't looked back since and I don't regret leaving teaching (high school anyway) one bit.

Bonnie sold her store about seven or eight years ago and Kathy closed hers after 30+ years, but they're still in the industry working with LifeSaver part time.
 
How I started out in framing or JUMPING INTO THE RIVER OF LIFE

I was desperate.
21 years old
Newly married
Baby on the way
Laid off from my job
Exhausted unemployment benefits
Recession, no work to be found

A friend who managed a paint & wallpaper store, had a supplier who was looking to hire a picture frame salesperson.

I took the job, commission only, pay your own expenses, selling ready made picture frames in three states.

Moved on to work for an oak ready made frame manufacturer with nation wide distribution. We built thousands of picture frames right from the tree , and sold them to the mail order catalog houses of Montgomery Ward and Sears & Roebuck. My job was selling, finishing and managing.

Went on my own with a partner, in a money mule relationship. Black Tuesday, the Recession of 1957 caused the partner with the money to bail out. Left with a empty bag I filed Chapter 11, bankruptcy.

Selling for a photographic distributer was my next venture.

The next employer was a unique custom picture framing production shop. We were a full framing service for a large eight location department store chain My job was to train designers and manage the production facility.

I finally decided to try it on my own again, if I could convince my dear wife to go along for another ride. She, probably tearfully, agreed and we have been at it with the kids ever since.

Thank you to my mentors.

Norm Anselment at Kelly Paint & Wallpaper
Jim Carryer at Carryers Custom Frame
J.T. Budd- Jack at National Frame & Moulding
Dick Said at Artcraft Picture Frame Co.
Lilian Kanterman at Kay ditributing Co.
Nord Engelsen at Quality Picture Frame Co. ( Engelsens )
Jim Ford at J.L.Hudson Co. ( Macys )
Della Pavlock at The Framing Gallery of Grosse Pointe
George E. Smith at Grosse Pointe Glass & Mirror
Dorothy Robinson at The Professional Picture Framers Association


Tom Pavlock
 
I started in college, an art student, looking to get some art framed (I have become my customer!) which I could not afford. One of the grad students was a manager of an art department at a local college bookstore. The art department did not need help but it turned out they had a picture framing department that did, so I worked there while I went to school. That job was one of the funnest places to work too, high turn over of college students and meat some of the best friends ever there.

Five years later I was assistant manager and left to work at a high end art gallery. There I had literally one day of training. We had all our mouldings milled locally and handfinshed them ourselves. Every frame was 1/2 x 1 1/2 stem moulding, domestic and exotic hardwoods, all with strainers. I worked there for 3 years until the building we where in was sold and the owner of the gallery did not have the will to start over again after 24 years in business. So a another person who worked sales there, and I opened a gallery in the building I am currently located. It was an art gallery and frame shop. That owner, under the pressure of trying to save a business that started out too big for its own good, decided to eliminate the frame shop. So we reached an agreement and I bought the frame shop, equipment and client list. I opened my own shop right next door to the gallery in a 15x15' office. The gallery continued only another year and I have moved into larger spaces and been operating for 17 years! And it is still a struggle sometimes.
 
Randy- I really like the arcade where you are located. It has a nice atmosphere and good adjoining businesses. The only disadvantage I can see would be not having your own parking right next to the shop. I guess that's true of 'downtown' locations in general.
:cool: Rick
 
I bumped this one up to the top, because it is interesting. There have been a lot of new registrations lately for PPFA and for this forum, and it's interesting to see how others started out in their framing careers.

Discussion welcomed!

Mike
 
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