Loved up at Emerald......

HOT OFF THE PRESS!!!! Arrived today, new artwork from Kim Osbourne at Knockout.

Knockout is a lovely little company that specialises in printmaking and illustration that was set up in 2010 by Kim Osborne. Originally from a graphic design background Kim’s work is mainly print-based with bold, bright colours and simple shapes. Many of her designs incorporate humour, and are all created with the desire to make someone smile. Kim has lived in Thame, Buckinghamshire for the past 21 years.

Kim’s designs are produced by sketching ideas and refining and adapting them on-screen. The work is then either cut into lino and hand printed using a small home-made press, or digitally printed depending to the desired look of the finished piece.



Now in stock: Amazing Hand-pressed Valentines cards at £3.00 each
Valentines Voucher sets (great fun!) £5.50 each
Love prints starting from £10

And Kim uses this amazing little homemade press to create these lovely things - How cool!!


Get them whilst you can, these are HOT, HOT, HOT!!

Long haul flights

Amongst the many framing orders that were sent my way this festive season, came a last minute request for a custom box-frame. A customer and her son, popped in a couple of days before Christmas day and requested my help in creating a gift with a difference.

The boys Daddy, had just completed flying a plane long-haul to many destinations around the world, and to mark the event, Mum and son had devised a unique gift idea. They brought in six, identical small clocks and wanted them framed together to show the different time-zones of each flight destination.

Sounds like fun and I always like a framing challenge, so I set to work on the frame.

The customer requested that the clock faces should all be behind glass and also required access to the back of each clock, so that the correct times could be set and changed as needed. I used a mount to place and display each clock and an aperture underneath each clock to indentify the destination of each clock time.

With only a few hours before closing for the Christmas break, the frame was collected by a happy Mum and son, and hopefully was a nice surprise for one Daddy this Christmas.

April Jarocka and Chocolate

I recently framed the most stunning and delicious paintings for a lovely artist from County Clare, Ireland.

April Jarocka had a series of perfectly executed chocolate paintings, and they actually made my mouth water, as I was framing them!!

The paintings were framed as a collection in matching frames, and April chose a black frame, with a gold inner bevel detail, which worked perfectly in highlighting the chocolate wrappers and pulling the paintings together as a collection.

Here’s more information on April and her artwork, including how to view and buy her art online:

April Jarocka

Born 1971 in Plymouth, having lived in High Wycombe 1992-1998, I now live in County Clare Ireland where I work from my studio at home.

I am self taught and took up painting in 2006 after my mother died in 2004.

The bulk of my work has tended to focus on my inspiration from the seashore, particularly on the detail of stones and pebbles, which constantly fascinates me. I paint in oils & acrylics in a style that is photo-realistic and inspiring. Sometimes I paint other things, like chocolate, and this year I painted 10 popular branded chocolate bars, which are now currently on exhibit at Opus Art Gallery, Newcastle Upon-Tyne and can be purchased through them.

I am currently working on a new series of stone paintings that I hope to bring to the UK in 2012.

Some of my paintings, limited edition prints of stones, and drawings can be purchased through my website. Other prints and cards of all my work can be found at Redbubble.com

Email April: serenityinstone@gmail.com

Website: www.apriljarocka.com

Buy art: http://www.opus-interiors.com/artists/AprilJarocka/5783

Buy art: www.redbubble.com/people/apriljarocka

April’s facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/April-Jarocka-Fine-Art/220562337984112

Landscapes and Seascapes Art Exhibition- Bucks artists exhibiting paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture, glass, ceramics & jewellery

Well folks, our latest exhibition is now open and ready for visitors!!

The gallery is crammed full of stunning artwork, from local Buckinghamshire artists and a few selected artist from further afield. All very unique, desirable and waiting for a new home.

I am very pleased to welcome a number of new artists to Emerald, including Wendy Fowler- a ceramic artist from High Wycombe, who is showing her Beach hut range- www.wendyfowler.com and Julia Hayward - a glass artist from Marlow, who has a number of beautiful glass pieces available in the galllery space- www.juliahaywardglass.com



Please spread the word and I hope if your nearby, you can pop in to say hello and have a look at all the amazing artwork on exhibition :)

Don't forget we are open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm.

Traditional restoration and gilding

Check out this video for a brilliant demonstration on how to traditionally restore artwork and picture frames. Includes a glimpse of the art of gold leaf application. Now that looks like fun!!

http://youtu.be/O88y2GzPZs4

This is Marc Sterken, a Belgium framer, who offers a fantastic, creative framing service. I would love a few days in his workshop!!

Marc Sterken, Master Framer-gilder, studied Visual Arts. He studied drawing, aquarel, charcoal and pasteltechniques at the Academy of Visual Arts under the guidance of Frans Smets and Raoul Chanet. Oilpainting under Artur Renson, Georges Francis, Ri Coeme and Oscar Poelmans.

Traditional framing-gilding under the guidance of Paul Wuyts. Restoration of Paper with Ir Etienne Mahieu.

Additional studies with Maitre-Doreur Antoine Palomares at Versailles (France).

Marc Sterken teaches Gilding at te Vizo Tongeren and is a Member of Art Restorers Association.

Here's Marc's website details if you want to see more!

www.kunstrestauratie-atelier.be

Football crazy!

Well aren’t people lovely......

I was commissioned to frame a Welsh football shirt signed by Ryan Giggs a short while ago and I visited the customer in their house to discuss the picture framing project. The item was to be framed as a gift from father to son and both were present to discuss how to frame the prized shirt.

On discussion, it was discovered that the customer also had a photograph of the footballer signing the shirt, a scarf that he would like displaying with the shirt and also would be keen to have a plaque detailing the memorabilia and the date of the signing. The colours and frame were chosen by the customers, to match the Welsh team colours and to pick out the colours within the collection being framed.

It was all framed to their specifications and the certificate of authenticity was attached to the back of the frame, should it ever be needed in the future (always good to keep it with the item it represents).

It was, as all my football shirts are, framed with convservation in mind, and the whole process is fully reverseable, should the customer ever wish to take the items out of the frame in the future.

So here’s the finished article:

And afterwards I received this lovely testimonial from the father:

“I commissioned Cath to frame a valuable signed football shirt of an international player.
Cath was extremely knowledgeable and offered excellent ideas, including adding the national team scarf and a plaque. Cath was also very patient as it was the first time I had arranged a framing.
The end result was stunning. Far superior to any framed items I have seen in halls of fame, in specialist studios, and amongst specialist framing companies on the internet.
The project was completed in less time than quoted. The price quoted for the commission was fulfilled - no extras - and offered fantastic Value For Money! The cost was below any other quote and the workmanship superlative.
I have not been in touch with Cath since the commission was completed, do not know her personally, but would recommend her without hesitation as a true professional, who deals with her clients - in my case - with empathy, patience and a desire to achieve her client's wishes.” July 23, 2011

Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Good Value

R Goodwin
hired Cath as a Professional Bespoke Framer in 2011

I love it when my customers are happy :)