Career Advice: Becoming a Custom Framer

[Winnie]

I've recently made the decision to leave my job in Marketing and take a "sabbatical" to find out what I really want to do with my career. Luckily we have the finances and capability to do this for a few months while I sort out a plan, and in the meantime I'll get tons more time with my 14-month old son for a while :)

When contemplating some of the things I've enjoyed doing over the years, I constantly go back to the job I had in college working in an art/custom framing shop. The framing part was what I enjoyed the most, and was also very good at. While I didn't do as much of the framing as I would have liked, I loved being a part of the process and helping pick out the best types of mats, frames, and extras for their beloved art. I always found a way to surprise people and bring out an unexpected color in their picture by adding a different mat or frame style and this brought me a lot of satisfaction.

At the moment I've got more than 7 years of solid marketing/pr/advertising experience under my belt. I'm done with the desk job, I can't spend the next 20 years behind a computer in a cube farm. I had the "Office Space" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/) moment where I knew I had a better purpose in my life.

Who has experience in the custom-framing industry? Is it worthwhile to get a certification or take classes, or is it better to just get some hands-on experience in a shop part-time? Are small framing/art shops profitable enough to survive on, or would a home-based operation focusing on the local community be a smarter move in the short-term? I'm willing to take another "desk job" for a while so that I can do some training or get some experience while still bringing in some liveable income, but if I spend another 7 years updating marketing calendars, taking "ownership" of a marketing campaign, or sitting in a 5-hour meeting outlining the media buy for the next quarter I'll jump out a window.

Any thoughts? Horror stories? Words of advice? Resources? Networking?

[Kalhoun]

I used to date a guy who did this for a living. I don't believe he had any "formal" training. Just on the job. One thing I remember is that he said "never over-cut your cuts". I'm sure that's a given, but I tried cutting a mat once, and believe me, it's difficult. If you already have a natural talent for this stuff, I say go ahead and pursue it. Maybe they just give you a test on the spot. This is a cool job if you ask me.

[Kalhoun]

Forgot to say, he didn't make a ton of money, but he was happy. Sometimes you have to weigh the hidden benefits.

[fessie]

I know someone who is a professional custom framer. "A" handles some really impressive art, the kind of stuff that sells for big bucks at the hoity toity shows. Some of his clients are famous, and some of the work is famous - I'm not sure what percentage. That store will frame anything for anyone, it's not exclusive or anything - I have no idea how the owner became so well-connected. He's not in your part of the country.

"A" just happened to get a part-time job while he was in college working for a really good framer who handled high-end work (not "The Great Frame Up" kind of stuff). I don't think he has any certificates or formal training.

I do know that he doesn't make an impressive amount of money, basically what a decent secretary earns in that city, but part of the reason is he's not aggressive about it. This shop is on a crummy street, the owner lives in a spare room, and "A" does all the work (including ordering supplies and managing inventory). "A" should go out on his own, he'd double his money; but he doesn't want to be a framer, he wants to be an actor! C'est la vie.

If I were you, I'd contact good art galleries and ask who does their framing, then see if any of them will hire you. Your marketing skills might give you a leg up!

I worked for a framer myself for a couple of months, a guy who was running a shop in his basement. Unfortunately I'm really bad at it, and this particular guy had a serious coke habit. But even his half-assed business managed to draw customers (mostly people wanting diplomas framed).

Good luck!

[wasson]

I used to be a custom framer. I graduated from an art school, got a good job and, like you, got way too frustrated with it to keep it up. I spent some time freelancing and got a part time job as a custom framer to make ends meet.

I liked it for the most part. I didn't make hardly any money, and most of my time was spent building frames/displays/shelves/whatever else in the basement, away from customers. Because of my artistic background, I would sometimes paint/draw pictures on the mats for a little personal touch.

Anyway, there were 2 part time framers, and the other really wanted to go full-time. I bowed out gracefully. He was a better framer than I was, and better at dealing with customers. He'd been there 5 or 6 years, and when he went full-time, his pay was increased to $11/hour. No benefits or paid time off. This was a small shop.

I don't think I'd be happy trying to support a family off that kind of wage, but for what it was, I loved the job. I made my own hours, came and left whenever something came up, etc. As long as all the jobs got done by the deadline, I could do basically whatever I wanted. I have a feeling most small shops are like that. If you can get past the pay/benefits situation, it may be a good job for you.

[Zsofia]

If you find your customer base it can be good - the lady I go to gets the local needlework store's referrals, and while her shop is ratty and the art for sale is boring, she does an amazing job on the needlework. She has a little scrapbook from the State Fairs, with little gold stars by the ones she framed, and probably half of them are her work. She serves a specific market and does pretty well. It probably took her a long time to build up that base, however.