Gallery Events & Happenings

Do you ever wonder what to do on a cold, winter day? We may have some ideas...

How about stopping by Hampton House Art & Framing to see some special and interesting exhibits that we have going on right now!

One of the exhibits we have includes art by painter, Robert Dance. Dance was one of the very first artists that we represented upon opening in April of 1977! He has a beautiful shell collection available to view that will take you straight to the coast, as well as plenty more originals and reproductions. Here's my personal favorite:

It's an original of one of only five acrylic paintings that he's ever done!


John D. Gall is another artist that we represent. John taught printmaking at Guilford College, and has a fascinating and fun botanical series here at the gallery.  They are all original, one of a kind works on paper, and are created using pen and ink, ink washes, watercolor washes, tinted gesso, and prismacolor pencils.

John also has a couple of his pieces available to view at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh right now. ( You can check that out here: http://adamcave.com/2014/09/12/57/ )

Come escape from the cold, and surround yourself with wonderful art. Who knows? You may just end up with some of these beautiful pieces on your own walls...!

See you soon!

Sincerely,
Hampton House Art & Framing



PS. Be sure and check out the websites of these wonderful artists while you're at it...

John Gall's website: http://johngallart.com/

Robert Dance's website: http://www.robertbdance.com/

New Products From Larson Juhl to Kick Off the Year!

Wouldn't it be wonderful to finally frame all of the special and beautiful art that you have, and make that room pop?

We're here to help you see that through! And not just with any frames, but custom ones. We mostly use Larson Juhl frames for all of your framing needs, and to kick off the year, they have come out with some great new products!

Angus

Made in Italy, this faux leather collection showcases the look of time-worn vintage beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zeppelin

Drawing inspiration from the world of aviation,
this collection reflects the clean, modern look of
industrial machinery.

Jepara II

Jepara II expands this elegant collection with a new deep shadowbox profile and a new Champagne finish.

Bauhaus

Drawing inspiration from the 

famous art school in Germany, 

this collection pairs simplicity 

with functionality.

Can't you just see your art in these beautiful frames? We look forward to seeing you soon, and helping you with your framing needs! 

Happy framing,

Hampton House Art & Framing

Introducing a New Employee!

Allow me to introduce myself!

My name is Alexandra Plitt, and I have recently started working here at Hampton House Art & Framing. I was born and raised in Winston Salem and I love the area. Besides working here, I am an artist with a love for filmmaking and photography, and I run my own videography/ photography business called "Alexandra Plitt Productions & Photography".

Being an artist myself, I appreciate so much what Hampton House Art & Framing is doing. Not only are they into wonderful art, they're into the people behind the art. They care about the local community and they care about quality, and because of that, they will take the best care of your art, do the best job framing your art, and make it a pleasure to work with them in the process.

I feel very grateful to be able to work with such wonderful people and be surrounded by such beautiful art!

I hope to see you soon!

Sincerely,
Alexandra Plitt

How about this for a new direction in custom framing...and custom art as well!!

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/10/art-is-best-displayed-in-a-frame-that-follows-you-around/

How great would it be to have one of these goodies? Practical? Not at all. Fun? You bet.

Really custom framing and an answer to one of life's most sought after questions.

Many years ago, the North Carolina Museum of Art assembled a show of frames through the ages. These frames were mostly European and dated back to the 1500's. They were truly custom frames as they were all made specifically for the paintings they held. The beautifully strange thing is that the art was left out of the frames so only the frames were on display. It was magnificent! The only problem I had was that I couldn't (and didn't) touch the frames. That's one of the neatest things about handmade frames, the feel(hey, there could be, and are, weirder fetishes).

The National Gallery (I'm assuming of Ireland) is hosting a similar show in case you couldn't get to Raleigh. Just pop on over for a bit.

And now the moment you've been waiting for: The answer to that ever important life question, "Just how many frames can my Senator buy yearly on the tax payer's dime?".

Here's the answer(it's number 5). In unrelated news, we'll be opening a new shop in the basement of the Dirksen building...wherever that is.

Peace out my friends, until next time!

But I can't frame that!!

What about art you can't custom frame? What? Art you can't frame? That's hooey, you say. Not when it's as cool as this stuff is. While this can totally be called custom framing (maybe in the truest sense of the phrase), it has nothing to do with an actual physical frame. The beauty lies in the maddening preparation these guys must have gone through to create this beautifully stunning art. Check it out and love it because it's cool. But for art you can frame, don't forget the talent at www.hamptonhouse.net.

PS. How's that for a random post after too long of a time? Boom!

Why would you want to custom frame anything?

Really. Why would anyone want to go to the expense and hassle of bringing their stuff to a snooty frame shop when they can just order a frame off line and do it themselves? Good question...sort of. This is the first in a series of what you may find to be boring posts about answering the above questions. So strap in and let's get going.

 Firstly, it's expensive. Let's face it, custom framing isn't cheap, it can be quite expensive. Especially when done right. That family photo you just snapped could easily cost $200.00 to frame (and more depending on the products you choose). You've got to pay for the frame(usually the most expensive component), mats(I think they should always be acid free), glass(UV filtering is the best) and labor. That's alot of money when you think about it. Although, when you look at how long you'll enjoy that family photo, especially if properly framed, it really doesn't cost that much. That piece professionally framed piece on your wall will last longer than any clothes or car you'll buy and longer than most furniture as well.

Typical Pottery Barn style frame

Super awesome custom framing

Even more super awesome custom framing

The future of wall decor is here

At the end of January, Lara and I had an opportunity to go to Las Vegas for a trade show. Now you would think the most exciting thing we saw was the abundance of folks advertising prostitutes, or the hordes of human zombies mesmerized by slot machines like moths to a flame. Sure, all that was pretty eye opening but the coolest thing by far we saw (and here's where you get a picture of just how cool we are) was a new software platform that allows us to shop online for art images, purchase those images, then download and print them all in a matter of minutes, and all from our shop (or your office, boardroom, etc.).

This is a technology that is long overdue. Imagine, no more out of stock or discontinued images, no more shipping fees and two week turn arounds until the art comes in. This allows publishers to divorce themselves from stacks of preprinted images, and allows us the ease and speed to get what we want, when we want it. See, I told you it was cooler than prostitutes and slack jawed gamblers.

Both of the above images are from this new resource, and were framed virtually using the virtual framing tool available from the homepage of our website. And as always, if there are any questions about this or any other service we offer don't hesitate to reach out to us.

We're back, or Real Custom Framing

So, I figured since more than a year has passed since the last Hampton House blog post, it's time to dust the ole gal off and get things going again. The new format will be very similar to the old in that the content will vary between art, framing, design and senseless ruminations. The plan is for me to update about once a week with the happenings from the world of Hampton House and beyond. And with that being said, here goes:

Probably the most exciting thing to happen around Hampton House this week was the completion of a true custom framing project. Most of the picture framing we do always while custom is pretty standard stuff (albeit oh so lovely), but once in a blue moon we get a true challenge, and this was a doozey.

Note the arrow indicating where the splice is.

The challenge was to frame a 100 year old South Pacific tapa cloth that was longer than the industry standard 10 foot moulding length and way longer than the 60 inch standard for matting and mounting products. We had to splice three sheets of acid free matting and foamcore together to mount the piece down to, and the moulding had to be spliced toghter by master craftsman Steven Cole. If you need to kow why I call Stevie a master craftsman, just check out the photo of the (all but invisible) splice. Needless to say, all materials had to be special ordered and this project took a couple of months to bring to fruition. The result is a true museum worthy piece.

Finished Tapa Cloth

 Thanks for reading and, most of all, sincerest thanks for your business!

So, I know I've posted about his tool before, but I just can't help myself because it's so cool. Larson-Juhl has created a web based virtual framing tool that lets you design your very own custom frame job AND, place it on a background that closely mimics your wall color.

Here are some of the neato functions:

With the Interactive Frame Design tool, you're able to create designs with up to three layers of mats and fillets! Be sure to check out the tool's zoom feature so you can get an up close look at all of the details you incorporate into your design.

Also:

In addition to utilizing multiple mats and fillets in your digital design, you can also create stacked frame combinations with up to three mouldings! When your design is complete, you can choose a paint color, from our vast selection, for the background. This fun option allows you and your clients to see what the finished piece will look like against a specific wall color.

This is pretty cool, but remember if you like talking with real people, there's no place like Hampton House as a resource for your frame design needs.