December 2018
2018 has been a year of changes and developments.
The start of the year saw us finishing off the workshop changes that we started in Autumn 2017. Alec’s new painting room and his separate dusty workrooms were finished and that has vastly improved the flow of work when he is making hand finished frames. We installed some new equipment – replacing our trusty but well used wall cutter for glass and board materials and investing in a new Hoffman Router which is especially useful for joining hard wood mouldings.
In the Spring we both took Advanced Framing exams – Jo took Textile Framing and Conservation framing and Alec who’s “velcro like” hands (thanks to sanding lots of wood) are not ideally suited to textiles, focussed just on Conservation Framing. We are proudly displaying our new certificates on our gallery wall. In May Jo was elected for her final year as Vice-Chair and Members’ Warden of the Fine Art Trade Guild at the Guild Weekend and AGM in Stratford-Upon-Avon. This is her third year in that role and she continued to travel up to the Guild office in London for meetings six times during the year. She also sits as a member of the Framers Standards and Qualifications Committee and is an adviser on the Technical Helpline for Guild members to contact.
In the Autumn we travelled to London for a lecture on specialist glass – we have been offering the various specialist glass types for many years and the lecture was given by an industry expert. It was a fascinating talk and gave us a real insight into how the glass is actually manufactured, which glass is better in certain situations and the best ways to clean it.
The Autumn also saw us saying goodbye to a member of The Framing Lot team – when our beloved dog Bisley died. We have been truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love, sympathy and comments from customers who had got to know Bisley over the years. We would like to thank you all so very much as it brought us a lot of comfort to know how much he was loved.
As we passed into December we started the hectic run up to Christmas and this December has been one of the busiest we have ever had. We’ve undertaken some real “project” style jobs this year and these have continued with us having to problem solve and find creative ways to make ideas become reality. We love a challenge though! You can see more of the projects and work that we do on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
And as the working month draws to a close we are looking foward to a relaxing break over Christmas and the New Year.
We would like to thank each and every one of our customers for choosing us for their framing during 2018. We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year. We look forward to seeing what 2019 brings.
Alec and Jo
November 2018
This has been a tough month already and it has only just started. It was with an incredibly heavy heart that we said goodbye on the 8th November to our wonderful dog, Bisley. Many of our customers will have known him over the years. When we started the business he was a one year old pup, full of energy and loving all the new people he got to meet. Over the years he has slowed down and he celebrated his 13th birthday back in April of this year. Grey around the face, but still full of life and energy he loved nothing more than greeting customers and presenting them with toys to throw him. He enjoyed the treats people sneaked him too. His energy levels were lower and his health had its ups and downs over the past few years and it was time to let him go, but we will miss him hugely and the workshop will never feel quite the same again. We’ve been overwhelmed by the lovely comments and messages we’ve had from so many people about Bisley. It is a real joy to know how many people looked forward to seeing him when they came in. And thanks to one of our lovely artist friends, Annette Rayner, we have the most beautiful pastel portrait of him on the wall so that he is always here with us.
September 2018
Time has flown, we’ve lost the heat of the summer, and I’ve just realised how long ago I did the last goings on post. We had a busy summer with plenty of exhibition work as well as the usual wide range of bespoke orders. Frames we have made have travelled overseas to exhibitions in Cyprus and Singapore as well as closer to home in galleries and shows in Norfolk, London and Harrogate. Devon Open Studios has come and gone and as always showed just how wide and varied the art scene is in Devon. Usually we see lots of textile framing in the colder months, but this summer was unusual for the large number of textile and needlework pieces in for framing. These ranged from exhibition work to samplers from the 1800s, Indian Silks and African Batiks. And Alec took possession of another “toy” when his new routing machine arrived. This cuts dovetail joints in the mitred corners which are then joined with special keys and is extremely useful on hardwood and deeper mouldings to give a stronger finish to the corners. We are now working on the Autumn exhibitions and a slow but steady trickle of jobs in for Christmas presents. We’ve posted our Christmas and New Year opening times above ^^^^ and will be closed for our normal 2 week break. In addition we are closed for one day in October when we attend a seminar as part of our framing qualification CPD.
June 2018
Well Summer is well and truly upon us and the workshop is lovely and warm. This month we celebrated our 12th birthday – we opened for business for the first time on 26th June 2006. We were looking at some photos of those early days and it reminded us just how much the business has grown and changed in that time. When we started we had about 100 moulding chevrons and 50 or so mount colours on offer – we haven’t dared to count how many we have now! Our latest refit last October will hopefully be the last for some time and that showed the change in the kind of framing we produce now. And of course taking our exams was another step in our development as framers and we have been really delighted with the response from customers. Our thanks for everyone for the good luck messages and then the congratulations messages once we had passed. As the month draws to an end we are busy finishing orders before our summer break. We will then be back at work at the end of July, ready to finish off orders in preparation for Summer shows and Devon Open Studios in September.
May 2018
The month has only just begun and already it has been busy. Following on from Jo’s success in her Textile Framing exam at the end of April, both of us have now taken our Advanced Accreditation in Conservation Framing exams and we are delighted to say that we both passed with a pass rate of 100%. We had to show a broad range of skills and knowledge – both in a practical test and also a theory exam – on a wide range of framing and conservation topics. We are proud to have both now qualififed as Advanced Framers – we are the only framers in the South West where all work is undertaken by Advanced Framers. And to show that the learning never stops, we are now studying towards the Advanced Mount Design & Function exam. We are closed for one week after the early Spring Bank Holiday to have a few days off and then at the end of the week we are travelling up to Stratford Upon Avon for the Fine Art Trade Guild awards weekend and AGM. We are back to work on the 15th May and looking forward to warmer weather and plenty of interesting jobs to keep us busy.
April 2018
Easter is behind us and we are looking forward to Spring and Summer exhibitions, with plenty of framing already underway. We have just updated our moulding walls again with some new ranges from Lion, Arqadia and Nielsen – and removed some discontinued ranges too. From highly textured to high gloss lacquered wood – the new ranges are quite stunning. With hundreds of moulding samples to choose from we should have most things covered. We have seen a rise in the number of metal frames being sold recently too, and using some of the amazing colours that Nielsen produce in their metal ranges. We are also studying hard as it is exam season for us too. Later this month Jo will be taking her Advanced Textile Framing exam and then either late April or early May both Alec and Jo will be taking their Conservation Framing exams. In among that we are also working hard on lots of framing orders to keep ourselves busy. We’ve had some great projects through the workshop recently with plenty of textile work for Jo to keep records of as examples when she takes her exam. In May we will be attending the Fine Art Trade Guild’s annual Art & Framing Convention and Awards Weekend at Stratford Upon Avon – this is the main framing industry event in the UK and Jo will be on duty as Members’ Warden of the Guild. In the week running up to that we are taking a short break, so the workshop will be closed for one week (dates are listed above).
Quick update! Jo has now taken and passed her Advanced Accreditation in Textile Framing with a pass rate of 100%. Both Alec and Jo will be taking their Conservation exams on Saturday 5th May. Alec and Jo are the only framers to hold the Guild Certified Framer qualification in Devon and Jo is the only framer to have passed the Advanced Textile exam in the South West.
January 2018
A New Year and we are back at work and getting ready for a busy year ahead. Work continues to complete the new workroom areas and we are aiming to have those fully online and in use by the end of January. We are also updating more of our framing equipment and our new wall mounted multi board and glass cutter should be fitted and in use shortly. This is a replacement for our original cutter which has done eleven and a half years of hard labour and is ready to be retired from use.