Framer Framed
Her family just accepts the madness
In search for the perfect frame for my prints, I visited Farang Wren who lives in a big Victorian house in Hackney with her husband, two children, one dog and about 1,000 antique frames that are stacked up in every room, hallway and nook. I asked how she fits her business as a dealer and passion for frames around her family life, what famous artists she has framed, and what makes a frame special?
Farang Wren: I studied a completely different subject at university which I didn't like at all, it didn't suit me (law). I then did some studies abroad in France and Switzerland, in European studies, hoping I'd find something which would interest me as a career.
When I returned to the UK, after a brief spell at home, I looked for a part time job in the arts, until I could decide which direction to go in. I found an article advertising for some help in a Gallery. It turned out to be a Gallery dealing mainly in antique and vintage frames, but also some art.
I thought it would just be a stop gap but I ended up staying there for about 28 yrs! Of course, during this time I read voraciously about art and anything I could find about frames so that I was as informed as possible. I also did a gilding course so that I understood the whole process of gilding and restoration.
I decided that I needed to go my own way, I'd just been in one place for too long and needed to be more ambitious, take a risk, so I started working from home. It was a big decision as we had a mortgage and school fees to find but it was time to move on for sure, I'd been thinking about it for a few years, just deciding when would be the right time.
I started working from home in April, and covid hit later that year in November/December, and lockdown the following February. It could have been a disaster but it wasn't too bad for me as lots of people decided to redecorate and reframe pictures or just buy pictures online which needed reframing.
It's gone from strength to strength. The house is full of frames. My basement studio is full to the brim so that it spills over up into my hallway! The spare room is also full to the rafters. I now have a very large, Victorian industrial unit a few minutes walk away from my home which is also very full. I never thought I'd need more space! You can never have enough frames, there's always an elusive style or period of frame that I feel I need. I hate saying to a client that I don't think I have something that could work for them.
My family just accepts the madness. It's so normal for them to come home and find big boxes of deliveries or a courier emptying a lorry load of frames or furniture into the hallway and kitchen, or clients calling in at all times of the day/evening. Even the dog is used to it.
I have a passion for frames, it doesn't matter what period it is. There are beautiful mid-century frames and there are beautiful antique frames. I don't have a preference for a particular period, it depends on the quality.
I'm an obsessive collector, it's like an illness, I'll go to an auction to buy frames but come back with frames, pictures and garden furniture! My husband just shakes his head, he's given up trying to make me focus. Luckily, he loves what I do and how I do it so he's extremely supportive and enjoys the end result.
He can't really guess what I'll come home with, or if he's collecting for me from a saleroom, I won't tell him and let it be a surprise!! It might be a table, an urn a painting or a stack of frames. I collect anything that grabs my eye. I just feel it in my gut. It really could be anything from a pair of antique curtains to a piece of furniture or an old artist's palette! It has to have a story or a history, I think.
When a new client brings in a painting, I normally try to find a frame for it which is of the corresponding period. I want it to look like it's always been in that frame. That's a starting point, but also the client needs to give their input. Sometimes there might be three frames which could work with a picture but all of them are different in style although from the same period. In this instance I always discuss with the client their preferences.
I also look at the palette of the painting and the mood of it. Sometimes I like to mix it up, you can put a modern painting in an antique frame to give it more character or substance. Picasso used to use antique frames on some of his pieces and they looked wonderful.
I've framed all sorts of paintings from Picasso oils and etchings to Orpens, Augustus Johns, Hockneys, Warhol oils, Sickerts, Pop Art, Bloomsbury artists, Dutch masters etc. I can't remember! But I approach them all with the same attitude even if it's a child's drawing: They're all important.
