Our picture framery is Eastleigh Frames, our business details are here and we have been professionally custom p
icture framing in Melbourne for nearly 50 years. We began framing in the late 70's, the golden age of picture framing. Back then even the average, middle class house had at least half a dozen posters, several works on papers and one or two originals or small oil paintings. Custom and customers were different then. Many customers appreciated, bought and collected fine art, original works, Australiana and limited edition reproductions.
People even bought oil paintings as investments they hoped would appreciate. There were more jobs around then and perhaps more felt they had a larger, discretionary income. The Australian dollar was worth nearly half of what it is today. Importers weren't bringing containers of already-fully-picture-framed art back then. And the Internet wasn't around for customers to Google cheaper art from overseas.
We had many picture framers, we framed well and we often we framed 7 days a week. Forty years later, we're still going strong, and framing still. But we don't have as many picture framers because, alas, our trade has changed. Picture framing has become less genteel and more commercialised. Picture frames have less gilt and ornamentations. Polychrome is out, monochrome is in. Art collectors are out, art decorators are in. Artwork is less durable and more ephemeral.
Custom picture framing demand has decreased, off-the-shelf, ready-made picture frames sales have increased. We're witnessing a much stronger customer focus on inexpensive picture frames and affordable picture framing. So we frames less but sell more Ready-made picture frames and Ready-Frame photo frames. To cater for this growing trend we've expanded our range of photo frames and picture frames to include budget, ready-made picture frames.
If you'd like to see some examples of our work, visit our picture framing gallery. If you're considering custom picture framing visit this page to get a custom picture price estimates If instead you'd like to see some of our Ready-Made picture frames or photo frames visit our store catalogue page. Thank you for reading this post "So who are you picture framers and how long have you been picture framing?".
Making small picture frames or photo frames for small photos is a very small and narrow endeavour. Most art for picture framing is larger than an 8"x10" and requires specialist machinery and skilled workmanship. For instance, most photo prints larger that 8"x10" require mounting of some kind. Therefore both wet or dry-mounting need vacuum pressing or heat-pressing. Both processes are well above and beyond any DYO competencies. The cutting (chopping) or the frame (moulding) sections also progressively grows more difficult the larger a frame needs to be. Still, the article does gives a very rudimentary idea of what a picture framer needs to do to make picture frames.
I’ve been getting my photo frames and picture frames made by these guys for the last 6 years or so. Last week I took back to them two photo frames that were hanging in my passage. For some reason the framing tape at the back of the pictures was lifting away, curling and could be seen when walking in from the front door. The senior picture framer, Paul, said he would re-tape the picture frames, which he did while I was waiting. This took about 15 minutes. After Paul had finished I asked him how much that was and he said that the work was free of charge. He also added, during the conversation, that the back of the frames smelled a little musty and though he couldn’t see any mould he asked if I had any roof, ceiling water leaks or similar. It was then that I realized or rather, remembered that I had had, in fact, rain water leaking through my roof during a violent summer storm a few months back. Anyway, the point is the picture framer did me a favour and fixed my photo frames for free even though it wasn’t his fault and there wasn’t anything wrong with the picture frames he made or his workmanship.
In my personal neighborhood i remember there were at least 3 picture frames along the busy main road. Interestingly enough, there are none now. People seem to have all the money in the world for food, coffee and online shopping but not picture frames. I guess that is just the result of generational shift. Why have a nice picture frame on your wall when you can go out and have breakfast with your girlfriends instead? Sure the picture frame has more of a lifetime to it but everything these days seems to be about enjoying here and now. Things 30 years ago were alot slower, people had time to dwell and think. Everything is alot faster these days. Alas i think the local picture framer has been a bit of a casualty of this. Just my two cents. I still love all my frames and will continue to get framing done well into the future.