Okay. Am I obsessing a bit about getting my photographs ready for the Altamont Fair photography contest?
A bit? Well, maybe not a bit…
Last week, I began framing work on two of the four pictures I hope to enter in the Altamont Fair photography contest. The Altamont Fair contest allows the entrants to frame their own artwork and present it in any size, so long as there are no exposed glass edges and the pictures can hang securely.
Now, it would be easy for me to just go to Wal-Mart and purchase some cheapo frames off the shelves. No. Not this time. This year, I’m making sure that not only are my artworks printed with the best possible output, I also want the mattes and the frames to properly represent the artwork.
One of the artworks I’m entering in the Altamont Fair is my personal Kodachrome favorite, “The Railsplitter.” I took this picture last August along the Albany County Rail Trail, and it shows a weed poking its way through a rotted railroad tie.
I had Arlene’s create a suitable matte for the picture, a matte that was color-matched with the wooden ties. The completed matte, along with the picture, really looks swank.
But I needed a frame. And none of the off-the-shelf frames I saw – polished metal or smooth wood – worked for me.
It wasn’t until I went into Hobby Lobby that I saw the perfect frame for The Railsplitter.
It’s a frame style called “Prairie,” and it looks like distressed wood – ruts, gouges, knotholes and splinters. It reminded me of the heart pine and other long-lost timbers that are recycled from dismantled New England barns and re-sold as heritage floorings.
Perfect for The Railsplitter.
Hobby Lobby had different ready-made frames for purchase, and if I wanted my artwork to really shine, I needed a 24×36 frame in the Prairie style.
There were other frames in that size – frames made of iron and polished wood and plastic – but I couldn’t find a Prairie frame in that size. All I saw was an empty gap on the display shelf. A 24×36 sized empty gap.
I asked one of the customer service employees at Hobby Lobby if they had a 24×36 ready-made “Prairie” frame in the back.
He came over to the display area and looked. Then he looked at the bar codes on the shelf.
“Oh dear,” he said.
“What?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but we’re out of this style of frame.”
“No problem, I have some time before I need it, when is your next shipment of frames?”
“Let me check, sir,” he said, walking to the back of the store.
A minute later, he returned from the back area. “I’m sorry, sir, but it appears that the Prairie style in that size has been discontinued.”
Oh, that’s not good.
And at that point in time, I had three options.
I could have:
(A) Gritted my teeth and bought a frame that might not have been anywhere close to what I wanted, sort of like wearing a lime-green necktie with a black business suit.
(B) Re-printed The Railsplitter in a smaller size, re-matted it with a smaller matte, and purchased a smaller Prairie frame – thus ensuring a smaller chance of winning.
(C) Walked through the Adirondacks until I came across a dead tree, bucked off the branches with a chainsaw like an episode of Ax Men, crammed the tree trunk into my car, drove to a sawmill, had them plane the trunk down to 2×4 lengths, Googled the address for Norm Abram, driven to his New Yankee Workshop, and have him whittle the planks into a frame.
I could have done all those things.
And in the end… one of the Hobby Lobby customer service representatives chose Option (D).
“Sir,” he said to me, “Let’s check and see if we have the Prairie frame itself, without the backing board or glass.”
And sure enough, two aisles over, in a section reserved for unfinished frames, were two Prairie-style distressed wood frames. In 24×36 size.
Aces.
“Which one would you like, sir?” he asked me.
I looked at both frames, and selected one that had exposed knotholes in the slats.
Of course, I realize that I’m going to have to purchase glass and a backing board and some glazier’s points to hold everything together, but this actually works better than I imagined. After thanking the customer service rep at Hobby Lobby for helping me acquire the perfect frame for my picture, I took the frame up to the cashier.
And as an added bonus – that week, all unfinished frames were marked 50% off retail price. Four Aces.
So much thanks to the Hobby Lobby customer service people for helping me find the perfect frame for the Railsplitter photo. I don’t know if the picture will win at the Altamont Fair … but I do know one thing.
The picture surely wouldn’t have won – had I not found the perfect frame at Hobby Lobby.
Chuck The Writer 