Picture Frame Challenge: The Magic of Magnets

A client brought us an interesting picture frame challenge recently. They had a collection of cookie cutters they wanted to display and they wanted to be able to take the cutters out and use them.  Okay, that's easy, we could fabricate a shadow box frame with a hinged door and mount the cookie cutters on pegs so that they would be removable. The second request was much more challenging.

The client also wanted the flexibility to add to their collection and change the arrangement of cookie cutters in the display case. Since the cutters are of different sizes and irregularly shaped it's not as simple as displaying them in rows three across. The solution called for the mounting pegs to be moveable. But how were we going to do that?

After considering various mounting methods such as velcro and clear acrylic I came up with the idea of magnetic pegs on a sheet metal backing. The metal was covered with silk fabric for an elegant appearance.

I also added rubber O-rings to give the magnetic pegs some grip.

Here's a view of pairs of magnetic pegs before adding the cookie cutters.  Hinged door closes with magnets embedded in the frame so there are no visible latches or handles.

Picture Frame Challenge: The Magic of Magnets

Studio Shop at 100! The Early Years

This is the first in a series of posts describing the 100 year history of The Studio Shop, beginning here in the 1890s when the founders Dorothy and Ralph Crawford met at school in Kansas.

Before Dorothy and Ralph opened the Studio Shop in Burlingame in 1915, Dorothy had been a pioneering entrepreneur in rural Kansas with the emerging technology of photography. In the early 1900s Dorothy was an independent minded single woman who apprenticed with an established photographer and eventually ran two successful studios of her own.

Dorothy was born in 1877 with the given name of Maude Frink along with a twin sister, May Frink, on a Kansas farm settled by her parents who arrived by covered wagon. To get a decent education the twins were sent to boarding school at a Baptist college in Ottawa, KS, now called Ottawa University and named after the local Indian tribe. After graduating in 1897 Maude returned to the farm to take care of family. At school she met her future husband, Ralph Crawford, though they wouldn't marry for another 16 years.  Ralph continued his education as a civil engineer and left to Alaska for a surveying job in 1900.

Ottawa Boarding School, Ralph Crawford,
Maude Frink and twin sister May Frink.
Courtesy of Burlingame Historical Society

Dorothy Crawford, nee Maude Frink, undated.
Courtesy of Burlingame Historical Society

Maude had a short stint teaching in a country school but she didn't like that and later contacted the school photographer from boarding school for an apprenticeship. After a few years of apprenticing, independent Maude opened her own studio in Wellsville, Kansas in 1904 where she lived with her sister May who was now married to the editor of the Wellsville newspaper.

By 1907 Maude was living on her own and it was noted in the local newspaper gossip column (a little like Facebook today) that she got a telephone installed.

By 1909 she moved back to the big city of Ottawa where she purchased the studio of her former employer, Mr. Martin, when he moved to a prestigious studio in New York.

In 1911 Maude achieved some photographic success by winning state awards for her photo portraits of her niece Carolyn, May's daughter, who would later help her aunt run The Studio Shop.

Ralph Crawford, undated
Courtesy of Buirlingame Historical Society

Over the years Ralph Crawford would return to Kansas to visit relatives and maintain some relationship with Maude, but he would soon leave for another surveying job, such as Death Valley and the high Sierras for the Los Angeles Water Project.  He was part of the great quest to conquer the West, like so many Google cars mapping today's city streets, armies of surveyors were employed to swarm over deserts and mountains to map the West. The Crawford family history states that during one of these visits Ralph and Maude became "engaged" only to be later called off by Maude as she grew tired of waiting.

By 1913 Ralph had landed a job as assistant engineer for the City of Burlingame and he lived in San Mateo. His new found stability must have lured Maude to California because she packed up her photo studio, moved to California and the two got married in February of 1913.  She was 35 years old and Ralph was 33. This is when Maude Frink completely changed her name. She claimed to have never liked her name, Maude, and its rhyming sound with Crawford would only make matters worse.

Soon she opened her third photo studio as Dorothy Crawford Photographer at the corner of Burlingame Ave. and Lorton, on the second floor of the Miller Drug building, what is now the Luggage Center.

In the photo below a small Dorothy Crawford Photographer sign can be seen above "Miller" in the Miller Drug sign. This photo would be 1914 or 1915.

Next episode: Ralph and Dorothy join forces by opening a new picture frame shop and photo studio called Crawford's Studio Shop.

I would like to thank Jennifer Pfaff and Martha May of the Burlingame Historical Society for their assistance with research and supplying images.

Studio Shop at 100! The Early Years

Mother of Pearl Art Frame

If ever a picture frame could make you feel the texture and emotion of a piece of art, this is it. Studio Shop framer Micah Paul created this amazing custom picture frame for an upcoming picture framing competition, January, 2015 in Las Vegas.

 

Micah started with this Asian themed artwork by Leslie Ditto and chose to emphasize some of its patterns with frame elements of teeth, fish scales and dragon skin.

The two outer mouldings are a mother of pearl product made with capiz shells.  The fabric mat is covered with a very cool fabric textured like lizard skin and called Komodo Dragon. The finishing touch consists of the metal studs on the fabric mat which echo the tooth motif in the artwork.

This frame is now on display at The Studio Shop and we're confident that it will wow the judges in the upcoming competition.

Mother of Pearl Art Frame

4 Art Strategies Before Remodelling

Have you ever tried to hang a piece of art on a wall but found a light switch in the way?  Avoid this design faux pas with careful planning prior to remodelling.  You can greatly improve your display options for family photos and artwork with thoughtful decisions about sightlines, lighting and placement of windows, light switches and air vents.

First, consider where your important walls are, and it's not just over the fireplace.  When you consider sightlines you will find great walls for hanging art at the ends of hallways or walls viewed through doorways. Have you ever been in an art gallery or museum where you see a striking piece of art in the distance, at the far end of a gallery or down a corridor?  That is the result of intelligent use of sightlines, and good lighting. 

Walk around your home and look through doorways from one room to another, what is on the opposite wall?  What is at the end of the hallway?  These walls could be an overlooked opportunity for stunning art display.  Once you have determined some significant walls for art display you can plan how to improve the wall spaces and placement of lighting. 

Windows offer interesting choices in remodelling.  A large picture window takes up a whole wall and makes it difficult to display a prominent piece of art. One solution is to install smaller windows on either side of the wall to preserve a large wall space in the center for art display.

Lighting is essential for enjoyable viewing of artwork and is much more easily installed when the walls are torn apart for remodelling.  Adjustable lighting like track lighting and adjustable recessed cans are easy to direct onto to art work and create better illumination than wall washers and ambient lighting.  And don't forget to keep the light switches and air vents out of the way.

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4 Art Strategies Before Remodelling

Frame a Wish for Make A Wish Foundation

When we were asked about framing mementos for a Make A Wish youngster this summer we of course said, "Yes."  Eight year old Jonathan "Jon Jon" Dockins is a heart patient and train nut whose wish was to drive an Amtrak Zephyr train over Donner Pass in the Sierras. With the cooperation of Make A Wish, Amtrak and many kind people throughout California and Nevada, Jon Jon had a fabulous experience on the trains and came away with many memories and mementos of the event.

Studio Shop framer Micah Paul was contacted by Amtrak engineer Ken Powell about creating a memory frame for Jon Jon and his family in Jackson, Missouri. Micah quickly started planning the layout of the several items and created a mock-up in Photoshop to easily show the event organizers for approval.

The frame design includes a hinged door so that Jon Jon can remove the toy train from the frame for running on his track at home.

Hinged frame for access to train.

The moulding is a unique and beautifully appropriate line with lots of mechanical details called Steam Punk.

To help out the organizers Micah selected images from a large batch of digital photos and then printed the best ones for the frame.  He also printed  the logos for Amtrak, the train engineers union and historic train lines from digital files.

The moulding's mechanical details  inspire its name, Steam Punk.

Jon Jon in the driver's seat.

Golden spike and other detail close ups.

Lock detail and custom Conductor Jon Jon sign.

CBS news video about Jon Jon's train trip.

Frame a Wish for Make A Wish Foundation