Picture Framer - Career Advice - Retail and Hospitality

A Picture Framer cuts out and assembles mouldings to make picture frames and frames paintings, photographs, needlework and other artwork. Decline

ANZSCO description: 394212: Cuts out and assembles mouldings to make picture frames, and frames paintings, photographs, needlework and other artwork.

Alternative names: Framer

Specialisations: Art Restorer, Conservationist

Picture Framer working
Professional Picture Framers are trained in their craft from Masters
(Source: WiseGeeks)

Knowledge, Skills and Attributes

As a Picture Framer you should:

Enjoy practical and manual activities
Possess good interpersonal skills
Have an interest in the history and value of artwork
Display and aptitude for design
Appreciate changing trends in colours and materials
Be able to work neatly and accurately
Have good hand-eye coordination
Be able to undertake fine work

Picture Framer at work
(Source: Your Career)

Duties and Tasks

Studying drawings, work orders and sample parts to determine specifications
Setting up woodworking machines and wood stock for correct cutting, planning, turning, shaping and sanding
Operating machines to cut, plane, turn, shape and sand work pieces
Removing old finishes by stripping with steel wool and glasspaper, and by applying solvents and paint strippers, and removing softened finishes by scraping
Applying varnish, shellac, lacquer, stains and paint to surfaces and polishing and waxing finished surfaces
Fitting and fastening frame pieces
Mounting backing materials and subjects for framing

Working conditions

Picture Framers generally work in a small workshop with a small team of other framers. Self employed framers may work alone and specialists may work in art galleries or within an educational environment.

The environment is usually light, clean and free of excessive dust and noise. The work area may be part of a retail outlet selling framed artwork and there may be a need to liaise directly with customers regarding their needs and to handle sales.

Tools and technologies

Picture framers use a variety of tools including power tools, saws and pneumatic staplers and nailers. Specialist framers use the crafts of wood machining, wood finishing, French-polishing, cabinet-making, wood carving and gilding. They also use a variety of card and papers for matting and mounting drawings, photographs and other works of art.

Education and Training

You can work as a picture framer without any formal qualifications and get training on the job. You can complete a traineeship. The picture framer traineeship usually takes 24 months to complete.

Did You Know?

Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes (pictured) and dissolved in ethanol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish. Shellac functions as a tough natural primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odour-blocker, stain, and high-gloss varnish. Shellac was once used in electrical applications as it possesses good insulation qualities and it seals out moisture. Phonograph and 78 rpm gramophone records were made of it until they were replaced by vinyl long-playing records from the 1950s onwards.

From the time it replaced oil and wax finishes in the 19th century, shellac was one of the dominant wood finishes in the western world until it was largely replaced by nitrocellulose lacquer in the 1920s and 1930s.

Shellac varieties
(Source: Wikipedia)