My Framin' History, stage 3

Since moving back from the east coast I have managed to work in a large variety of retail framing establishments.  Some were small and exclusive, others large national franchises and one somewhere in between (local custom frame designer that carried the major publishing lines).
 I developed my talents further at North Wind Designs (John's Landing) where I learned gallery design and layout, display and fine tuned my framing skills.  I next managed the framing department for Obeidi-Sinclair's Frame Department in old town Portland.  I developed my management and diplomacy as I sometimes had to discuss, explain and help the owner (new to the business at that time) understand pricing and the bottom line.  He was sometimes generous to a fault. 
I next joined Deck the Walls, Clackamas.  Here I learned to manage a mall store with huge volume while working closely with the owner.  We then opened a store in the Valley River Mall in Eugene.  Where I honed my window display skills and started a pattern of creating rooms, in a 3.5 deep window.  It was challenging to create the illusion I wanted. After a couple of years we opened the Washington Square Mall location.  
I decided to move to a different type of store and returned to Gallery International (I had worked a short stint here before Deck the Walls).  Mike, the owner, and I had some tricky challenges in style and design the first time around. His way or else, but in the process we learned to like and respect each other.  When I returned to Gallery International the times had changed and the way people were purchasing art had changed.  No more collectors buying everything the artist  produced-now the buyers were more discriminating and only bought the pieces they really liked.  This meant the framing changed also and expanded into new ways of designing that were mare art-centric and unique.
In 1996 I got an opportunity to purchase a building in Newberg, Oregon and took the leap, not to just owning and operating my own galley and frame shop, but to property ownership and management (I had a tenant building on the property also).  
Wow, what a learning curve.  as my Mom said, I couldn't just get my toe wet I had to jump in up to my neck.


It has been an adventure and a beautiful challenge.  Now after 18 years I start a new adventure as My Personal Framer.