Framing Teacher

About Me

I am a professional picture framer with 21 years experience in the trade. I currently work in a picture framing business in Petersfield, Hants on a part time basis. I did manage the picture framing department for 10 years. However a change in personal circumstances (studying for a degree full time and then a Masters) means that I now only work there part time. Before this, I worked at The Hunt Gallery, Godalming, Surrey and at Downing Street Studios, Farnham, Surrey.
I have passed the picture framing qualification promoted by the Fine Art Trade Guild (the professional picture framing trade association) called The Guild Commended Framer (G.C.F., my registered pass number is 060). During my time as a professional picture framer, I have framed many weird and wonderful things! These have included fine examples of watercolours, oils, pastels, antiquarian maps / prints and modern prints. Some slightly more challenging picture framing tasks have included Chinese food dishes, military medals and an orchestra conductor's wand (possibly the strangest thing I have ever framed was a stuffed canary called Jimmy!).
I have approximately 10 years experience teaching picture framing at various venues, including The South Downs College and The Petersfield School. The courses offered at The South Downs College are 10-week courses, usually taught on Monday nights. These courses start in September and January (Autumn and Spring terms). The courses at The Petersfield School are one-day courses held on a Saturday. There is usually one course offered during both the Autumn and the Spring term.
I have also taught to arts & craft societies and to photography clubs. These can be tailor-made to fit the requirements of the club or society. Previous subject matter for classes has included presentations on choice of suitable framing materials for specific pictures. Also demonstrations regarding overmount cutting or cutting/mitring frames have proved to be very popular. Some art societies have also benefited from demonstrations on overmount decoration, a particularly challenging part of picture framing! These classes can take the form of audience participation, where the potential students bring along some basic equipment with them and 'have a go' on the day. Alternatively, the classes can adopt more of a lecture form with framed examples used as visual aids.
I also offer one-to-one tuition on any aspects of picture framing that you require assistance with. Please feel free to e-mail me for any further information you require.

Who are the courses for?

Anyone with or without knowledge of picture framing who wish to make their own picture frames. Even the most inexperienced student can gain enough from these courses to achieve a most satisfactory result.

Course Content

The courses will be structured with demonstrations and a "hands on" approach. The latter part of the course will enable students to specialise and progress with their choice of work.

How will the courses be taught and assessed?

The courses will be taught with demonstrations of various techniques and student practice. There will be the opportunity to complete frames to fit pictures of your own choice. A variety of styles will be demonstrated.

Student Achievement

At the end of the courses all students will know how to cut and decorate overmounts; mitre and assemble moulding to make picture frames and fit together the finished picture ready to hang on the wall.

Follow on courses

Individual tuition for advanced topics are available.

Equipment essential to course:
• A Stanley knife with spare blades. It is recommended that you try to bring a Stanley and not Stanley knives are much stronger.
• A pencil and a rubber.
• A steel ruler, preferably in inches but it can be metric (I always prefer to work in imperial measurements). The ruler should be steel if possible because you will need a solid straight edge to cut along.
• A sheet of mountboard, ideally approx. 30” x 20”. The choice of colour will depend on suitability to your pictures. If in doubt, I recommend cream or ivory.
• Some blue-tack.
• The picture or pictures that you want to be over-mounted. One 6" x 4" photograph is a good picture to start with because it is nice and small to begin with to practice cutting mounts to fit. However do bring along other pictures of your own to mount!
• A board to cut on. This can be a sheet of mount board as well. It could also be a purpose made cutting matt. It should not be a hard board. Preferably something that the blade will sink into when cutting on.
• A saucer and a piece of sponge.
• A cotton cloth.
Make sure you bring all these items along for the first lesson.

Specialised Courses

As I am sure you are well aware, professionally framed pictures can quite easily cost an awful lot of money. However, with a few basic tools and materials, it is quite easy to obtain a professional looking job without the expense. If you belong to a club or society I am sure you are used to watching demonstrations of various skills or techniques at your club already. This is exactly the same way as I like to teach picture framing, through demonstrations of the techniques at your club. Then I can supervise your colleagues during their first attempts on their own projects. Obviously there is always an initial cost of new tools and materials when first starting picture framing, but these costs are soon returned with the money saved from not having professional picture framing charges.
It may well be the case where you and your colleagues are already framing your own pictures. I have also demonstrated more advanced techniques to art societies, such as oval mounts and mount decoration. Perhaps these may be of interest to you.
It may be that you would like one-to-one tuition on a more tailor-made basis. This I can provide at any location that you want me to come to.
If you would like further information regarding anything about demonstrations of picture framing, please do not hesitate to contact me at andy@andyparks.freeserve.co.uk or use the link at the bottom of my home page.

Items for Sale

I have provided a page at the end of this site which is dedicated to tools for sale that are relevant for picture framing. Each of these items include detailed instructions that have been purposely written for each piece of machinery that you buy. That way you are buying something that you will understand hoe to use correctly for you picture framing projects. Please follow the link under ‘Tools For Sale’ on the left hand side of this page for more details.