Flawless in Seattle: Artech/Denman delivers handcrafted frames, experienced advice and unparalleled service to the Seattle area

Art Business News, Feb, 2003 by Susan Seiling

Artech/Denman provides services most frame shops avoid, such as hand-gilding frames and king 90 percent of its frames in-house. The company designed its frame shop to accommodate framing large pieces of art, making it a place conservators repeatedly seek out to flame large-scale historic pieces. But what's most impressive about the people at Artech/Denman is their overall approach to framing. Whether they are doing a specialty service like gilding or simply framing a poster, they treat each frame like a work of art. They focus on delivering craftsmanship, creativity and a frame that is an extension of the artwork itself.

That's why most of the dozen employees on staff at the frame shop are artists, and almost everyone has either attended or graduated from art school. Kathryn Trigg, design consultant at Artech/Denman, said this contributes to the business' success in a grassroots kind of way: The employees' passion for art naturally blends into their profession. Handling the rare and exciting pieces of art keeps most of the staff members working at Artech/Denman for many years. "We love it here. We're all artists, and it's exciting to see the art in town," Trigg said.

Some of the "art in town" they have framed is a textile from the 16th century, ancient clothing from China and Japan and textiles from all over the world. They regularly frame work for the Seattle Art Museum and the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Wash.

Trigg said they often flame very large items, such as an 8- by 10-foot weaving. They work hand-in-hand with conservators to ensure the historic art is framed properly--from adhering it to a proper backing to encasing it in a large shadowbox frame.

"We're different than most frame shops--most don't even want to touch [antique textiles]. They take extremely special care," Trigg said. "But we're set up to handle them."

Framing historical pieces wasn't a market the shop specifically sought. "It fell our way because we have the ability to do large-scale things, and [historic textiles] are big," Trigg said.

Artech/Denman has a special room with moveable tables for handling large artwork. "We reserve that entire room for a day to put [a big project] together. We'll have three to five people working exclusively on that project."

Constant interaction with conservators keeps them current on archival issues and abreast of new developments in this constantly evolving area. "We have the fortune of being in contact with conservators who are very good and keep us up-to-date on the methods we need to use for archival preservation," Trigg said.

A Midas Touch

Though framing historic pieces is one of the most exciting aspects of Artech/Denman's business, they initially built their reputation on the quality of their hand gilding. John Denman, a pilot who collected art, became intrigued with the art of gilding in the mid 1960s. After studying with master gilders on the East Coast, he opened his Seattle frame shop in 1966, specializing in fine gilding.

Gilding remains a cornerstone of the business. Considered by many to be a lost art, Artech/Denman employs several staff members who hand-gild period gesso frames.

"The gilded frames are time consuming," Trigg said. "There are steps to cure and dry in between. You can't rush the process." It's important to let the frames offgas before they are assembled around the art. This can take several weeks, or even longer.

The frames that Artech/Denman gilds by hand are made by a third party, but many of the frames sold by Denman are designed by the artisan staff members.

"It's really exciting to have the capability of designing a frame from the ground up, if need be," Trigg said. "Occasionally we have the need for a frame that is hand-carved and hand-built from scratch. We have a person who works on that type of thing."

Trigg is one of the in-house designers who creates custom mouldings from a large variety of woods. She transforms walnut into frames of all hues, from bleached beige to black and every shade of brown in between. They also work with raman wood, bamboo and a large range of other woods, while taking care to avoid the endangered species.

"People can pick their woods, and we can have them milled," Trigg said. "Or we'll buy basic profiles that we can modify easily. Then we do almost all of the finish work in-house. They are beautiful hardwood frames. They look almost like a piece of furniture." Depending on the complexity of the frame, prices range from $10 to $200 a foot.

Trigg said she stays on top of current design trends naturally because as an artist, she constantly studies art. "Most of the people in the company are doing art. We're constantly exposed to what's new," she said. This, combined with the fact that they work with top-notch designers, keeps the look of their frames up-to-date.

"We keep current as far as what people are doing in their decor," Trigg said. "But we have a more classical manner than most frame shops. We avoid being trendy when people are buying finely finished frames."