This customer wanted to commemorate her family's trip
    to Disneyland.  The challenge here  was how to deal
    with the empty space  on the sides.  I addressed this by
    creating the mickey cut-outs on each side.  I Achieved
    this by taking a picture of the small stamped images on
    one of the stamps, uploading it into my mat cutter,
    tracing the image in the auto cad program, and setting
    the bevels to create a cut art shape that the cutter could
    understand how to cut.  
    This is an example of combining a fine art print
    depicting a famous aerial battle, brief
    biographies of the pilots,  and replicas of the
    medals that were awarded to them.  

    This frame design features a suede mat,
    museum glass, and fillets installed in each
    opening.  Fillets are like little inner frames that
    enhance the over all design and sometimes
    mirror  the look and feel of  the outer frame.  In
    this case the medals are in their own miniature
    shadowboxes within the frame design, and the
    bios have there own frames too!

    Click on the detail thumbs to see how tight the
    fillet miters are.  I am very meticulous about my
    frame and fillet joints.
    Needlework is one of my specialties, and in
    this example, the customer wanted a heart
    shaped mat. Pretty straight forward it seems,
    but the challenge here was that the shape of
    the heart is very unusual.  The standard
    default heart shape included in my mat cutter
    program would in no way work with this piece.

    I had to photograph the piece, upload it into
    my mat cutter, and design the heart shape
    freehand to create a cut art shape for the
    cutter.

    This piece also features a custom oval frame,
    and convex glass.
    This customer's brother was a character actor in the 40's, 50's
    and 60's.  She wanted me to create a memory box to honor his
    legacy.  

    She brought me several photos and some photo "strips" that she
    allowed me to do whatever I wanted with.  She also wanted me to
    cut one of her own watercolor paintings into strips and integrate
    them into the overall design.  She was extremely close to her
    brother and wanted part of herself to be included in the
    shadowbox.


    I met this challenge by using my artistic skill of
    composition to combine all the elements of design into a
    presentation that is able to hold the interest of the viewer.


    Notice how the fragmented painting is integrated into the
    arrangement as a subtle enhancement to the whole
    without dominating the overall design.  The film strip
    design was my attempt to capture the cinematic theme of
    his life, and required some serious time on the drawing
    program.


    This customer's husband got to throw the first pitch at a Giants
    game and she wanted to frame the memory of a wonderful day
    with family and friends.  

    She used to live in town, but moved 200 miles away a few years
    back.  She still has me do her framing to spite the long distance
    because she couldn't trust anyone else.

    This customer's Dad flew a B-25 in
    WWII
    and this shadowbox-collage
    combination celebrates his legacy.

    This customer had
    this framed as a
    gift for her church.
    The box is 8
    inches deep!
    This lady wanted
    these four leaf
    clovers framed
    special, and thats
    just what she got:
    A  shadowbox
    frame with a
    custom seamless
    silk wrapped liner,
    fillet, museum
    glass, and the
    clovers are
    suspended with a
    clear filament
    above frayed silk
    fabric made this a
    little jewel of a
    display.

    What makes this
    shadowbox unique is for
    the small size, the outer
    mat with fillet makes it
    appear more substantial
    than if it had been
    framed without it.  Notice
    the natural placement of
    the chain,  it was sewn
    by hand.
    a 3 inch deep shadow box
    This baby dress is frame
    hand sewn on a sage green
    suede mat.
    This is a unique design
    featuring a custom oblong
    frame, convex glass,
    suede mat and all objects
    hand tied with sinew.
    This is an example of
    integrating several separate
    pieces in a creative way
    utilizing color, line and
    shape in a dynamic and
    exciting presentation.
    This is a tin relief
    mounted with a black silk
    mat and beautiful silver
    fillet.
    The frame is hand
    crafted in Italy.  This
    is a simple yet
    elegantly understated
    piece.
me for years and is very confident in my
capabilities.  Thats why she didn't
hesitate asking me to cut a  triple mat to
perfectly conform with her beautiful  
Emperor's  Robe
    needlework.  This
    project required  This customer me to
    take a picture of the piece, upload it into
    my mat designer program and create a
    beveled cut art shape that the machine
    could cut.
    obviously was
    This a big
    Rippingtons
    fan.  He
    wanted me to
    design a
    creative mat
    that would
    enhance the
    covers of
    nineteen of his
    favorite cds,  
    this is what I
    came up with.
    This military
    shadowbox
    house the flag.
    Fillets are
    installed in
    each
    opening and
    the medals
    each
    opening and
    medals are
    recessed are
    recessed
    back about
    3/8."
    This is a
    simple design
    for a small
    needlework
    using a
    matching
    frame and
    frame
    combination,
    and museum
    glass.
    This an excellent example of
    stacked frames.  The outer frame
    is a Tuscany style hardwood, the
    inner frame or "liner" frame is a
    Olivewood veneer Italian moulding
    which in turn is lined with a gold
    fillet.  The liner frame enhances
    the color of the subject's hair.
    A framed wedding invitation
    makes a unique and
    individualized wedding gift.

    This example features a
    double 8 ply extra thick white
    rag mat with a unique design
    cut into the top layer.
    Notice how the extra deep bevel adds
    dimension to the design.
    This shadowbox really
    captures the feel of these
    African artifacts.  They
    are mounted with raw
    hide strips and sinew.
    This Burmese ceremonial
    puppet was beautifully hand
    crafted from leather and hand
    painted.  It deserves a
    stunning frame treatment.  It
    was mounted on bright red
    suede mat and trimmed with a
    black suede mat and
    matching satin gold frame and
    fillet.
    This is a very simple collage
    mat with two recessed
    openings to hold the two
    medals, single mat, and
    simple black frame.
    The story behind these preceding
    examples is very interesting.  The
    customer brought in a group of
    beautiful hand tooled leather and
    the rest were belt buckles that
    featured wild animals.

    I was impressed by the artistry
    that went int each piece, so when
    the customer told me that his
    original intent was to but them
    together in one shadow box
    frame, I tried to dissuade him from
    doing so.  

    I explained to him in my usual
    diplomatic fashion that by doing
    so, the viewer wouldn't be able to
    appreciate the beauty of any one
    individual piece the  way they
    would if each piece was framed
    individually.
    Also the individually framed
    pieces could be arranged in their
    home a countless number of
    ways as apposed to one static
    frame.

    They agreed, and this is the
    design I came up with for them.  
    They are mounted on a recessed
    sienna suede mat, trimmed with a
    black suede mat with a matching
    Italian olive wood veneer  frame
    and fillet and glazed with museum
    glass.
Basic shadowbox with suede mat and black
frame.
Stacked frames 6" deep shadowbox with blue suede and museum
glass.
Stacked frames with orange frame as inner
frame suede mat and museum glass.
Letterman's jacket from the 1930's the photo
was framed with a mat and fillet frame which is
raised above the sweater using straight pins