wierdist frame job?

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A graduating senior from University of Tennessee who played on the football team all four years wants us to shadowbox all his mouthpieces which are, of course, UT orange. I told him to soak them in alcohol or some other disinfectant.

We're going to put nameplates below all of them with date of game and score. Hes to bring them in next week, but we've already priced the job and arranged for moulding, etc.

Can't wait to see all those mouthpieces.

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Michael LeCompte CPF
The Great Frame Up
 
The only really weird one that sticks out in my mind happened about 20 years ago.

A mailman's widow had us shadowbox her late husbands complete Postal Service uniform, including hat & shoes. She had us pad the uniform "to give it some body".

I asked where she was going to hang it when she picked up the completed job. She looked at me like I was nuts and said, "In the living room, of course."

Sick, sick, sick, sick.

John
 
Hey - at least he wasn't in it. Eeeeg.

I re-read the whole thread so I have several responses:

Seth B. I saw that exhibit!!!!!!! I remember noticing the lack of overcuts in the mats with tiny openings. Well done.

Hugh You took the client's word for it?

Next time my boyfriend accuses me of saving everything I will be sure and point out that I do not have a framed umbilical cord. Ecch

Thaks Mitch, for the scar tissue detail.

Nothing I've framed is in this league of interesting, but here are my most unique

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>A broken tennis raquet signed by Ivan Lendl, broken during the US open.
<LI>A segment of the Wheel of Fortune signed by Pat and Vanna
<LI>Dutch Schultz's hand gun.
<LI>An absolutely shredded baseball cap that a well meaning mom washed after one hot summer of continuous wear. It had gotten so stained and stinky she couldn't stand it. Son went someplace without it for the first time in months and she put it in the wash. It did not survive. She felt so bad. My heart went out to her.
[/list]



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Meghan C. McCord, CPF
J. Pocker & Son
Rye, NY
mcm87@att.net
 
I framed a leaf skeleton a few years ago. (Yes, leaves DO have skeletons). It came from Central America and had a picture of a Mexican woman and her child PAINTED on its surface!!

The amazing thing to me is how my client got this extremely fragile leaf skeleton all the way back home without breaking it.

The framing was featured in one of the first "You Framed What?" in Decor magazine in January of 1998.

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****4 mitered corners away from that perfect frame****
 
Back in the day when I was running the shop all by myself a man came in and wanted me to frame a pair of women's panties. When I remarked that it was an unusual item to frame he commented that if I knew what he had to go through to get them I would know why he wanted them framed. I didn't ask!


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Marty Cipolla, CPF
Marty & Pat's Frame Shoppe
Fort Worth, TX
http://www.martyandpats.com
 
I framed a chunk of the Berlin wall along with a photo of they guy getting stuck into it with his pickaxe.

And a crocodile too.(skin)

And the one that made my skin crawl was framing some blokes pony tail that he had to get cut off for a job interview after he left University.It just didn`t look all that clean to me!
 
I framed a clean shiny pony tail, tied with a pink ribbon, plus a before and after photo of the little girl getting her first haircut.

I framed a very long leather belt that belonged to a formerly huge guy who lost weight over several years, and the belt had indentations of where he kept tightening and re-tightening it as he lost the weight. This was his personal trophy of his struggle, and he did not buy a new belt until he was at his desired weight. The frame was someting like 6x60. No glazing.
 
Framed a brick from the house John Lennon grew up in.

When they were filming the Bio-pic a few years ago, they wanted to film it in the actual house (now a museum of sorts, still ownned by the family). The house is so small, and they needed one particular shot, so the museum added a window to acomodate the shot needed. The bricks removed from the wall to make the window were counted. Numbered. And sold to make $ for the museum. And the mudeum got paid for the shoot too.

To be honest, it looked like any other old brick. It just had a brass plaque stuck on one side.

The Berlin wall pieces we have framed look, just look like broken concrete too, of assorted sizes. Don't they?

[This message has been edited by Marc Lzier (edited December 25, 2001).]
 
Marc,
I think you win the award for framing the oddest pieces. Your expertise and location must be a great asset for you.

I feel as though the stuff we frame is more sentimental with some wonderful stories but nothing really "strange" like some of you folks!

Janet
 
yeah the Berlin Wall chunks were pretty dull to look at!Unless you are a concrete connoisseur.

And I,m not.

I really like bricks though!
 
Janet,
Something I have alluded to before is "relationships." It is all about relationships. It is not so much location, or expertness, but rather the relationship you have with your customers.

Why do they come to you?

What/Who do they see you as?

What image do you/your shop project?

When a customer has an item that is "off color" do they see you as a person they have a close enough relationship with to share the item/experience?

When a new customer has an un-conventional item they need to frame, is there something you project that your shop is the place to get it done?

Here are some thoughts:
Wall samples. Wall samples that are more risky in design (with traditional content). And some that are more risky in content, but with conservative design. And some that are over the top in both cats.

Marketing/Advertising. When you fire your shot, where are you aiming? Is there a cash-full market you are overshooting?
Someone will hit the mark and cash in.

Lingo. Be hip. Easy going. Or, at least, open to not pass judgement, and appreciate the art/item for what it is.





[This message has been edited by Marc Lzier (edited December 25, 2001).]
 
Just recently, the strangest thing we have framed is an owl feather--which is about as big as the head of a pencil. It came from a customer who hit an owl with her car, and that was all that was left of it that she could salvage. It has been stored safely on the "alter" she built for it, but her husband decided it was time to have it framed. We are just worried about sneezing!
Oh well, its a job!
 
Finished our first piece of Berlin Wall on Christmas Eve - exciting object to frame isn't it. However the lady thought it was a lovely job and thats what matters - Alan

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If you can't be a good example you'll just have to be a horrible warning
 
I've been framing over 19 years and have seen a lot. We tell our clients that we've framed everything from OSU astroturf to original Renoirs. But the weirdest thing has to be a human skull. The client got this in Tibet. It was embellished with silver over 80% of it and the top lifted up and had a silver tray in the brain bucket.

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Diver Dave
 
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by framechick:


Seth B. I saw that exhibit!!!!!!! I remember noticing the lack of overcuts in the mats with tiny openings. Well done.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thanks, Framechick. That job was a long time ago, but it's one that I won't forget; especially having to handle those "live hits!"
I had an experience similar to the tyre episode. I had Annie Sprinkle (ex porn start and now performance artist) for a client some years back. She gave me an autographed poster of hers called "Bosom Ballet" to frame.
This was 15 shots of her breasts and arms in various poses. After it was done, she
told me I could have it, and then offered me a part in a movie, which I politely turned down. I still have the poster, and would post a shot of it, but I'm afraid of young eyes catching a glimpse!

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Seth J. Bogdanove, CPF
22 years framing and still loving it!
The website for my new company is: www.La-Belle-Epoque.com

[This message has been edited by Bogframe (edited December 28, 2001).]
 
Right now I'm working on a piece that includes a set of wild turkey feathers, the "chin hairs" (whatever they're called), and the shotgun shell that shot it.
 
Ok kids there are so odd ones in here, so got to add to it. A woman has recently brought in a metal rod that was in her leg. It is clean, but it freaks me out. She is so excited to get it back she keeps stopping by, think she misses it.
d
 
Cymbal signed by Van Halen members.
cymbal.JPG


Vintage Flinstones Cigar ashtrays and Flinstones Cigar bands, and a Cigar roller tool.
flintsonescigar.JPG


Vintage authentic Chinese Funeral Dolls.
funeraldolls.JPG


Tobacco Leaves
tobaccoleaves1.JPG

tobaccoleaves2.JPG
 
Complete European tour set of tickets for the band Slipknot. If you know Slipknot, then you don't think of people who come into a frameshop.
slipknot.JPG


A complete set of "bnechwarmer" trading cards. An insane number of mat openings. Yes, this is over 6 feet tall.
adultcards.JPG


Newspapers alwyas make good framing. But not too often do you get to indulge for the framing part of it. This is a bit gratuitous.
titanic.JPG
 
This is just plain ugly, but it's EXACTLY what the customer wanted.

multicolor%20frame.JPG


Another customer wanted this. I still do not understand why. But they loved it.
odd%20shaped%202.JPG



And more odd shaped wonders.
odd%20shaped%20frame.JPG
 
One customer does these for his house from Army Men, and Cowboys and Indians. It's a sort of giant battle scene. t tells a story. What I'm not exactly sure. He has several of these. He also does them for friends too.
armymen.JPG


This was done by a girlfriend for a boyfriend as a surprise.
They broke up before she gave it to him. Now I have a nice wall sample.
hotwheels.JPG


This is a Blackjack table top from FearFactor. With perfectly fanned deck of cards, and the acrylic table limit marker.
fearfactor.JPG
 
Ceramic torso, cast from live model, floated on black leather.
nude%203.JPG


And from a different customer came this plaster cast torso, from a live model.
This one gets a link, as the image is a bit risque, albit, edited to a PG-13 level. You are hereby warned before clicking.

Link to plaster Torso

Sorry for so many posts. But The Grumble software has a limit to how many pix you can put in a single post.

I had forgotten about this thread Eddie.

Customers are freaky in what they want framed, and how they want it framed.
 
I have framed a lot of interesting, rare, and unusual things, but nothing really weird. (of course, when you look at my artwork, you will realize that I'm not a good judge of what's "really weird")

I did stretch a llama fur quilt once, and the fun thing about that was how my cats reacted when I came home with an unfamiliar animal smell on me.
 
I have framed dry lint. An artist in the area uses dryer lint to create mini-quilt blocks. It did tend to create a lint problem in the framing package.

I framed a monkey wrench once. It was some sort of award for years of service or retirement, something like that.

One of the saddest things I ever did was for a woman who brought in two watches. One was hers and one her husband's. She had been diagnosed with cancer and only had a few months to live and wanted to frame these for her husband.

Great thread!!!
 
A dead moth. It went in a tiny acrylic box with handwritten text from the client who brought it in. It was a gift for her husband and the note said "The bug that bit the Bwhana". We didn't ask. ; )

The colour photos a woman had framed of her cervix were unique to say the least.
 
I've framed a handfull of curly metal cuttings (chips) off a fancy new milling machine at United Airlines maintenence base in SFO. Very important to some one there who authorized the $500K for the machine.

One of the first silicone wafers (3" dia) used for making computer chips. Floated in a reverse bevel circular mat.

An IUD (Jarvik 7 I think) installation kit for doctors that included some 10" long fireplace matches in the hermetically sealed kit. This was a joke item. The matches were to solve the problem of cutting the retrieval cord (monafiliment) They were getting complaints from husbands that were getting poked with the sharp cut ends. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

A Portable radio that had been shot with a shotgun at very close range. This included a plaque reading "First bag of the day - Digital Equipment Corp - Last annual duck hunting party. It still had lots of bb's rattling around in it.
There might have been an interesting stroy to go along with this, dontcha think?

A fortune cookie (delivered to me all broken up in a linen napkin) with a fortune that said: "Your new venture will be a great sucess". They had taken this woman out to lunch in celebration of her opening her new business. What a coincidence! Sprayed the pieces with lotsa coats of matte laquer and framed it all in a small pile on the linen napkin crinkled up in a shadow box. That was 1970 - I wonder how it's held up over the years?

Made a "Collage" of about 75 photographic "Floater" frames - all different sizes from 4x5 to 11x14. These were all attached together - some overlapping - came out about 7 feet tall and about 20 feet long. The customer picked it up in a rental truck.

Framed a panoramic photo about 18 feet long x 20 inches wide. They had to open the hatch on the elevator to get it up to the 44th floor.

The saddest: A finger painting by a womans 4 year old son who had died recently. A moulding salesman walked in while she was still there and asked "What are you framing that for?" Although he weighed about 400 lbs. I literally threw him out. You framers in the SF Bay area can porobably guess who that slimeball was. Circa 1975 ish

Enough - but there's lots more.
Greg Fremstad
FrameTek, Inc.
PS: Ask Vivian Kistler about framing a Dead Cat
 
I once framed a bear skull, the bottom half of the bear hide, and all the bear claws. It was pretty cool (if I do say so myself) when it was finished.
 
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