Framing shop opens gallery with prints that span the globe.
NORWAY – The Littles get to explore the world and travel through time for their job.
And typically it’s a pretty experience.
“It’s a great business,” Bruce Little said, standing in the framing shop, Frost Farm Gallery, he owns with his wife, Adrienne. “We get to work with beautiful things all the time.” And the images also provide art, history and geography lessons, Bruce said, since they scan the globe and often reach far back in time. For instance, the couple recently framed a print from China made in the early 1990s of an emerald-colored bird standing on a delicate branch.
The Littles have been in the framing business together since 1996. They have just expanded their space on Pike’s Hill Road to include a gallery, where they can show their images and also local artists’ work. By March, they said they will start hanging art from this area, and have already lined up a photographer and multimedia artist.
When the Littles search for images to frame, they said they haunt antique shows, estate sales and auctions. They pore through antique books, like flower guides or children’s stories, from all over the world to cull images. But they also do embroideries, medals, diplomas, and even fish flies, an easy gift for fly fishermen.
Looking at an old print of flowers from an Irish book, Adrienne said, “These are the things you find at an estate sale and say, That would be beautiful to frame.'”
And customers seem to like botanical and nautical prints, although it’s a bit hard to predict.
“To be honest, most of our stuff is emotional buys,” Bruce said. People will respond to an image that reminds them of home, friends or “a trip to the ocean,” Adrienne added.
The couple, too, said they can reproduce damaged prints or photographs on the computer using Adobe Photoshop, creating a copy that looks new.
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