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Mark Anthony Henry
"Farm on the French Broad"
Pastel. 15"x 22.5"
P.A.P.A
Mars Landing Galleries
Click on the above link,
then click on Artists
Mars Hill, NC
"French Broad Moon"
Pastel 18"x 24"
"Hickory Nut Falls"
Pastel 41"x 23"
A Frame Story
Throughout my career as an artist I have had the opportunity to learn various skills which augment the works I produce today. One of these is framing. In 1982 I had the opportunity to work as a museum prep. This came about through my sculpture teacher and eventual close friend, Mr. Lesley Posey. Mr. Posey was a retired working sculptor whose main career was as a ornamentalist. His work was mainly in the Detroit and Chicago areas in the 1920's- 1930's. I meet him in Sarasota, Florida through the art school I attended. As his student, Mr. P submitted my name to the Ringling Museum to bid on building a frame for their newly acquired painting " The Triumph of Divine Love" by Peter Paul Rubens. After winning the bid, the work began.
The frame was built of a wood understructure with a casted acanthus leaf ornament on the face. This frame was huge, it had to fit to a 12'x 17' painting! Upon completion and delivery of the frame, the head conservator at the museum asked if I could work on smaller frames, touching up and repairing broken frame parts. I began in a museum prep position and was trained in the basics of conservation practices in his lab. As I worked I studied all I could on the way these old frames were built.
Today in my studio the experience of my past has come full circle . The frames that I design and build are a mix of the molding classic from the past that mirror the frame profiles of the old masters of Europe. I build the frames along with my paintings and hope to marry the profiles with the subjects of the works.
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