I began custom framing in 1985, it was one of my college jobs while I was studying Biological Illustration at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, New Jersey. Since I was very young, I've always loved art as well as working with my hands. I developed a great deal of skill and creativity as a kid largely because my parents indulged me with every art and craft project that existed, as well as hundreds of models. I soon grew into very much of a perfectionist, and learned how to achieve that "nearly perfect" result (let's face it, absolute perfection is a tough call) with a great deal of efficiency.
Throughout my life, I've kept with my art on the side but I was always very happy with the concept of using my hands to create things every day. Sure, the regular framing is just fine, but when I create a piece that displays a person's military career, triathlon memorabilia and medals, or the arrival of a newborn with precious keepsakes from junior's first few months in a manner fit for a museum, there's a real rush there that I'm sure not many people will fully understand.
Throughout my life, I've kept with my art on the side but I was always very happy with the concept of using my hands to create things every day. Sure, the regular framing is just fine, but when I create a piece that displays a person's military career, triathlon memorabilia and medals, or the arrival of a newborn with precious keepsakes from junior's first few months in a manner fit for a museum, there's a real rush there that I'm sure not many people will fully understand.
These pieces are deeper than they appear. In the military collage the mat is black suede and each of the medals/pins sits on a black suede cutout that's raised almost a half inch above the rest of the mat. The plaques were mounted within a typical mat opening. The changes in depth turned out a very impressive piece. In the golf piece, the client wanted to be able to take the gold bill clip in the center out to use it on special occasions as it was given to him by Tiger Woods. There's some genuine fun in adding these special details to give the client something they thought wouldn't be possible.