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“Built to last”

In this day and age, the phrase can sound more like marketing fodder than a true commitment to quality. But as professional certified framers, we take it seriously. This means we use the highest grade of conservation materials when framing your artworks, photographs, special objects, and memorabilia.

The conservation and archiving industries have learned much over the last 30 years, and are always endeavoring to improve standards and practices. As conservation conscious framers, we believe it is imperative to learn and follow the standards set by the Professional Picture Framer’s Association to ensure that your projects last a lifetime and beyond, and as certified experts, we are committed to continuing education in this field.

When designing and building a framing project, we practice three “P’s”: Protection, Preservation, Presentation. Not every project demands all three P’s, but we will always endeavor to “Do No Harm” by considering conservation methods and materials first.

Protection: We mitigate the risk of damage from light by using UV protective glazing (glass or acrylic) made right here in Minnesota by TruVue. UV glazing is recommended for all artworks, including oils. All light will act to fade artworks, not just the sun! Glazing also helps to protect artworks from dust, grime, sneezes, fingerprints, and physical damage.

Projects are sealed in the back to guard against insects and other pests, and harder substrates are included to guard against punctures. A gently sealed (not air tight) framing package creates a more stable environment when it comes to temperature and humidity fluctuations, and will discourage the growth of mold. When applicable, we also seal the wood on a frame to protect the framing package from acid, and avoid direct contact of artwork to wood whenever possible. The examples demonstrate various degrees and types of damage that can occur.

Preservation: We use archival quality mat boards, backing boards, and mounting materials. You may hear materials described as “acid free,” which is a general term suggesting the material is pH neutral. The highest conservation grade substrates are those that have been neutralized and buffered to slow the process of oxidation, and/or alpha-cellulose mats in which the lignin has been removed. Solid cotton substrates are natural to preservation standards.

When the project is truly priceless, our mounting methods are non-invasive and completely reversible. In the examples shown, not only was the artwork in direct contact with a acidic wooden board, but it was taped to a non-conservation grade mat board with masking tape. The glue could not be removed and the points of contact had faded and burned the art paper.

Presentation: We make it look GOOD! The appropriate style is of course relative to the client, the space, and the subject being framed. Browse our blog and social media for examples of some of our great designs.

Because every framed artwork or item is unique, it is our privilege to serve you by appointment in order to ensure the time and care that you and your projects deserve. Make an appointment today by calling 651-385-0500 or using our online scheduler at www.redwingframing.com.

 

 

Out of the 936 photos you have on your smart device, at least one or two must be worth displaying! Selfies, pets pics, family snaps, nature shots, flower photos, travel memories…why not decorate your space with your art? Imagine your photos printed on long lasting and fade resistant fine art papers or stretched canvas and displayed in high quality beautifully designed frames and mats.

The process is a simple team effort. You point, click, shoot, send. Together, we design either in person or via email or text. We print, mount, frame. You hang, smile, and enjoy!

How to and tips for success:

  • Set your device camera to capture large file sizes.
    • We will help you determine “how big” your photo can go and what sizes will be most appropriate to ensure a high quality image.
  • Set your device email to send the largest file size possible.
  • Email to redwingframing@gmail.com
    • Subject: ATTN Phone to Frame
    • Include your name, phone number, any preferences or wishes, and preferred avenue of design (in person or online.)

We are looking forward to helping you move your snaps from phone to frame!

 

 

 

Meet Danielle Flicek, artist, chef and restaurant owner, mother, and Brazilian Jiu Jitus competitor! Dani has been a great friend and customer since she moved to Red Wing in 2014 and opened her restaurant, Staghead. We have been thrilled to work with her and her art in both our digital and framing departments, and are excited to share her artwork and story here.

Artist and chef Danielle Flicek with her oil painting of colorful mushrooms.

Artist and chef Danielle Flicek shows off some fine art prints of her oils.

What is your background in art? Where did you start and how did it grow?

I always remember creating art since I was a young child using simple crayons and watercolors, and eventually getting my hands on more media in school. I enjoyed every project we did in school but I really fell in love with painting around 9th grade. I would call myself the teacher’s pet in the art room. I would even have my lunch in the art room sometimes!

One of my most memorable projects in high school was a Toulouse-Lautrec mural. That led to a lot more mural work. I also began doing commission paintings when I was in high school and have kept this up consistently. My first oil painting experience was in an Intro to Painting class with Simon Hueslbeck at RCTC when I was in the Post Secondary program in my high school. This ended up being the only time I was ever formally taught how to oil paint. It was exciting and I fell in love with it! My teacher thought I was bizarre though because I prefer to paint on the floor instead of an easel!

After high school, I was accepted into the San Francisco Academy of Art but I decided to stay home to be near my siblings who were still small and growing up. So, I moved to Rochester, MN and managed an Alsatian restaurant, which was right next to… a frame shop! The frame shop owner was a regular at the bistro. This was my connection and introduction to custom framing, and I ended up working there too. I really enjoyed this work and was inspired by many projects. It was great to learn the techniques and hard work that goes into framing, like pairing colors, textures, styles, and so on. At this time I was stretching and prepping my own canvas, then making my own frames too. It was a good learning experience.

My family and I moved to Red Wing in October 2014 to open Staghead, which took a lot of my time. This halted my paintings for a few years. I picked it back up again once the restaurant was on its feet.

What media and styles do you work in now?

Yum! Artist and chef Danielle Flicek cooks and paints delicousness!

I only oil paint now and am backed up with commission portrait pieces! I paint a lot of wedding/engagement portraits and images of loved ones who have passed away.

I really enjoy painting food…fruits and vegetables are my favorite subjects! I love the organic shapes and textures and how colorful they are. I enjoy painting high contrast and repetition, like a pile of cherries or morels. On my easel currently is a new blackberry piece! I am working on a collection for a food exhibit this fall at The Anderson Center.

Who/what inspires you?

 I think hyperrealism is incredible. Artists like Diego Fazio or Tjalf Sparnaay inspire me. I also like to keep an eye on Daria Callie for her portraiture. I try not to look too much at other artists’ paintings while I am working on my own because I have my own style and sometimes find myself trying to mimic others. But I am definitely inspired and in awe of so many painters! If I ever have painter’s block, a museum trip or a scroll through Instagram accounts is a great motivator.

What are your biggest barriers to making art, and who is your support system?

I have tons of barriers and challenges when it comes to painting. It has taken me years to find the time again to even pick up a brush since opening Staghead. The first Covid shutdown allowed me to spend time getting it back on track and create some great pieces and portraits. I realized I needed and wanted to be painting.

Working with a life coach helped me find direction, and gave me the confidence to take my painting beyond hobby and start putting myself out there more. I was able to communicate with my husband and restaurant staff about how it is important to me and I would like to adventure more into making this a career. I can’t give them enough thanks for seeing my vision and understanding. I am so blessed to have a big team that supports my art adventure!

My husband and two sons are very supportive. My kids love to watch my process and even work on their own while I do mine. I also have to give a shout out to the staff at Staghead for stepping up and working hard so I can spend time on my art. I am also dedicated to training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and am grateful to the support from my peers at RioJitsu in Apple Valley, MN. I have found that BJJ has increased my creativity and patience with painting, and with life overall. It is Yin and Yang!

“Being able to paint allows me to live and see more creatively in other parts of my life, like at the restaurant or martial arts or even parenting. Not to be cliché but it’s a good reminder that everyday, like every new project, is a blank canvas and I am the painter.”

Wedding portrait commission by Artist Danielle Flicek.

Ok, where can we see more of you and your art!?

I am currently working on pieces for the art show this fall at The Anderson Center in Red Wing. They can be viewed for the first time there or you can see other originals on the walls of Staghead, my own personal gallery!

I love to do commissions, and find them incredibly rewarding. It is important to me to be emotionally involved and to know the story behind the subject. For commission pieces or original and prints inquiries, you can find me on Instagram @daniflicek or email danielleflicek@gmail.com.

As we look back at the past year, a lot of emotions bubble up, and the strongest one is gratitude.

Thank you Red Wing Framing customers for making us essential.

The past year, that word “essential” has taken on new meanings. It seems to get tacked on to just about everything these days! Essential workers, essential businesses, essential services, essential…custom framing?

Yup.

Dear customer, friend, by allowing us to frame, preserve, restore, and enhance your essentials, you have made us essential. We have seen quite an uptick in family mementos, treasured photographs, personal crafts, stitchery and needle arts, children’s art, sports memorabilia, spiritual art and icons, lots of personal and collective historical figures and items, political posters, and “saved” thrift store artworks.

So thank you. You are 100% essential to us. Our hearts are full, our shop is bustling, and we are proudly soldiering on as an essential preserver of personal, collective, and public essentials! Make an appointment with us today, to preserve and display YOUR treasures.

A few favorites from our crew…

Angelic counted cross-stitch.

Stitchery! Valerie says, “There is something about stitching that is very comforting to me. It is one of my own personal passions and I was able to get some great stitching in this last year. It has been a great joy to see how others have stitched through the COVID year as well. Our personal creative passions help to slow down the craziness of life and leave riches for generations to enjoy. Let’s keep creating!”

Still life floral, oil on board.

Florals! Clare says, “One of my favorite quotes is by Lady Bird Johnson, ‘Where flowers bloom, so does hope.’ This past year, hope has been in great need and too short supply for many folks, so it makes sense that people want to be surrounded by the simple and timeless beauty of nature. Flowers don’t care about the pandemic or about politics. They just keep delivering their elegance, grace, and steadfastness. Flowers bring hope of renewal, and they’ll always look great in a frame on the wall facing your Zoom webcam!”

“Live Long and Prosper” puzzle.

Puzzles! John says, “Puzzles have boomed in the pandemic era, and we’ve had a lot of fun seeing what our customers have put together. Pandemic puzzles will represent various memories of these times. They invoke a sense of comfort and maybe even exemplify a “job well done” while one has waited to go back to his or her job. Or maybe a puzzle is just a puzzle, too!”

 

 

Our appointment model allows us to give each client and project our undivided attention, ensure the comfort and safety of all customers and staff, and offer increased virtual design options for the “online era.”

How to make an appointment:

  • Give us a call! 651-385-0500. If we don’t pick up, leave us a detailed message with your name and description of your project(s), and we’ll get right back to you.
  • Text us! 651-380-8767. Send a detailed message, including your full name, phone number, schedule preferences, and a description of your project(s).
  • Email works too. Request an appointment via email to redwingframing@gmail.com. Please include your full name, phone number, schedule preferences, and a description of your project(s).
  • Make an appointment right on our website. Navigate to www.redwingframing.com and follow the directives. We will contact you to confirm and discuss your project(s).
Remember, we can work with you in person, via email, text, video, or a combination of these channels. 

In 2019, we framed and preserved an influx of antiquated artworks, thrift store treasures, historical relics, and found family heirlooms and photos. So we are starting the New Year quite inspired by our customers’ “old is new” projects and we hope to see this trend continue. Nothing wrong with brand-spanking-new, but with so much societal focus on “reduce, reuse, recycle,” we’d love to motivate YOU to have some framing fun your “old” finds.

We have a few customers who are topnotch treasure hunters and well versed in the art of “lost art.” They’ll find old, discarded, and forgotten artworks in secondhand and antique stores as well as online (Etsy, Ebay, etc.). Originals, prints, etchings, drawings, paintings, needle works…the variety of media is endless, and the conditions of the artworks vary. The name of our game is both preservation and presentation—we prepare the art to be displayed in a fittingly aesthetic manner and ensure it will be protected for many ensuing years of enjoyment. Old family pieces and “lost and found” childhood artworks have also been high on the frame-worthy list. Check out a few of our favorite “up-cycled” artworks. Its amazing what a fresh frame and mat can do!

Another facet of the “old is new” movement is the restoration of old family photos. Our digital experts can revitalize, refresh, and digitally repair your old photos. Need some extra prints of Great Aunt June for your cousins? And yikes…does that photo have an old coffee stain across Grandma’s brow? We can fix that, and we can print that! We are also experts at caring for original photographs. The science behind preserving old photographs is special and extensive, and our certified professionals will help you make the right choices with materials and mounting processes to ensure safekeeping of your photographic heirlooms. The safest place for your old photos, if not in an acid-free album in the dark, is in a frame with UV glass and archival materials.

This photo had fade marks, poor color, and insect excrement. Our digital team brought the image back to life.

Great Grandpa’s military portrait had faded and torn. We proudly restored this photo and provided prints for the extended family.

The old photo on the left had tears, fading, and other flaws that we touched out before printing for our customer.

So what do you have under the bed in that old “family box” that might be worth displaying? How about that drawing your daughter did in 8th grade, or Great Aunt June’s cross-stitch sampler? Come across a painting at the Salvation Army that warrants a revival?

Art is all around us, and we challenge YOU to make the old new in 2020.

We are very proud to present
Northfield Framing & Fine Art Printing
Est. August 2019

 

Since opening Red Wing Framing & Fine Art Printing in 2002, our goal has been to create a triple focus of certified custom framing shops which are easily accessible to a large portion of south central Minnesota and western Wisconsin. With the addition of Northfield to our Red Wing (2002) and Rochester (2014) outlets, our dream is being realized. We are grateful to our customers, friends, families, and business supports who have helped make this happen. Thank YOU!

Our new shop is located in the beautiful Bridge Square of downtown Northfield, MN. The area has ample parking along streets and neighboring lots, and our design and retail shop has fantastic mojo. Northfield is a community rich with industry, agriculture, arts and culture, a fantastic foodie scene, and two prestigious universities, Carleton College and St. Olaf College.

In addition to our wide selection of custom framing samples and fine printing offerings, we are excited to offer readymade frames, framed and loose prints, original art, artisan crafted jewelry, handmade quilts, bags, and notions, pottery and Motawi art tiles, art cards, and fine gift items. Please stop by and see us Thursday (11-7pm) and Friday/Saturday (11-5pm)! Shop our wares, design a project with our master framer, take a seat in our comfy chair, and enjoy the opulence and warmth of our brand new space.

“Come on in, the framing’s fine!”

Red Wing Framing’s Clare Lorraine has been recognized as a Certified Picture Framer (CPF) by the Professional Picture Framers Association. Clare took her CPF examination on June 20, 2019.

Clare Lorraine, CPF

Clare began her apprenticeship in professional framing at Red Wing Framing & Fine Art Printing in 2012 under Master Framer Valerie Becker. She manages production for Red Wing, Rochester, and Northfield locations.

“I am extremely blessed to be working under a Master Certified Professional Framer, and enormously proud to be serving our customers. I look forward to continuing my work as an archival framer, and advancing my skills and knowledge in this craft, which I believe is crucial to the guardianship of our individual and collective histories.”

The Certified Picture Framer examination is administered by the Professional Picture Framers Association. It demonstrates an expert skill set in framing, especially as it applies to archival and museum-level custom framing.

The Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA) has served as the trade association for professional custom picture framers, art galleries, museums and framing manufacturers for 35 years. PPFA serves the art and framing industry as an advocate for its members and by offering programs that elevate professional standards and strengthen the industry through education and promotion.

We are very excited to once again sponsor the Red Wing Collectors Society Annual Convention this July 11-13 in Red Wing, MN. Collectors from across the world converge in our river city to share their common appreciation for Red Wing Pottery. The three-day event consists of auctions, socials, sales, swaps, workshops, education, networking, and more.

Last year, Red Wing Framing & Fine Art Printing presented three framed prints by locally loved artist Larry Veeder, for the Collectors Society auction. Pictured is Red Wing Framing Owner and MCPF Valerie Becker and the Red Wing Collectors Society Executive Director Stacy Wegner.

Valerie Becker, Owner of Red Wing Framing and Stacey Wegner, Collectors Society Executive Director

This year Stacy presented us with a box of Collectors Society miscellany, and said, “Have fun!” We sure did! Check out our sweet little shadowboxes, filled with a hodgepodge of Collectors Society swag! These pretty little pieces will be auctioned off to raise money for the Society’s important work of preserving the legacy of Red Wing Pottery.

Thank you to the Red Wing Collectors Society and Ms. Wegner for the opportunity to support this wonderful organization and show pride in our community. Read more about the Red Wing Collectors Society on their website, and follow the action on their very active Facebook page.

At the tail ends of a challenging winter, (tons of snow = tons of shoveling!) February and March are often travel and vacation months for folks here in the north-Midwest. Vacation photos are still relevant, but more and more being stored digitally rather than in print. Thus, more and more vacationers are celebrating their travels by bringing home art that they purchased while visiting various locales. Original artworks and canvases, fine art prints, textiles and weavings, photographs, art postcards, and even art souvenirs can be purchased in galleries, museums, art fairs, gift shops, and street bazaars. We’ve seen customers spend thousands of dollars as well as mere pennies on their special mementos!

And at the ends of a challenging winter, we are grateful to be able to frame the beautiful works from all over the world (especially the warm places!). Each type of art has special needs, and our expert team is ready to help you both display and preserve your travel tokens.

One type of art we often see from foreign travel is original paintings on paper. These are often matted with non-archival materials for display and purchase, and we will recommend simple ways to #heartyourart such as archival and acid free matting and UV glass. Another common type of travel art is rolled canvas. We generally advise our customers to have these works stretched over an inner frame, with the options to add an outer frame and glass to further enhance the display and defend against fading, dirt, dust, and fingers.

When considering “souvenir” purchases, travelers often gravitate toward what they can carry home on a plane. But don’t let that deter you from purchasing the dream piece you find on your wanderings! Gladstone Gallery owner Barbara Gladstone says to ship what you can’t carry. “Most artwork is shipped by plane, but with heavy pieces like furniture or ceramics, you’re better off shipping by boat,” she noted in a 2016 New York Times article. Gladstone also suggests that travelers not be afraid to buy art on the spot, especially at art fairs. “Because if you don’t, it will be gone,” she says. Now, we aren’t the types to encourage unfettered purchase decisions, but travel often arouses inspirations of freedom, peace, growth, rest, joy, and awe. And if an artwork is motivating the feelings that a trip represents, perhaps the “impulse” should be acted upon…

But back to vacation photos. These special snaps and portraits are equally worthy of display. We have many solutions to show your vacation photographs. Our fine art printing and digital department can print your photos on papers for traditional framing, canvas for gallery wrap hangings, high gloss acrylic prints, and we can even engineer custom digital collages. Multiple opening mats, ready-made frames, and easels are other choices for vacay photo presentation.

So come see us with your travel art, vacation photos, or anything really (we’re not fussy)! We’d love to hear about your adventures, and help you preserve your mementos and share your stories.

Art is the only way to run

away without leaving home.

-Twyla Tharp

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