"I was born and raised in The Netherlands but left the country to get married to an Englishman with three young children. I lived in the UK for about seven years, and moved to Montreal, Canada due to my husbands job. By then our family had increased by two girls. We left Montreal after four years again due to a transfer this time for Delaware. As my family was growing up and increasingly more independent I decided to return to school to pursue a degree in art history and fine arts at the University of Delaware were I graduated. I intended to become a professional painter but as I suddenly found myself single again I needed something more reliable for an income so I started employment at a l local frame shop as an apprentice. There I quickly picked up the craft of custom framing.
After several years it became clear to me I just had to have a business of my own. The opportunity presented itself in 1997 and Dutch Touch Gallery was born.
It is mainly my education in the fine arts and painting that let me to custom framing, as all artists have to have some knowledge in this area. My knowledge of the theories of color, composition, balance, design and focal point learned in art school assist me in designing the items to be framed. When customers come in with items to be framed I always talk with them about the piece(s) to get a feel for what the piece means to them, the history, there tastes, where the item will be placed, etc., so that together we can decide on the kind of design that's right for the piece and its surroundings.
As far as faux finishes are concerned as a painter I copy nature therefore to copy finishes of surfaces is not too far removed. Faux finishing is a process of layer upon layer of translucent paint also called glazes to get the intended effects and depth. This approach is similar to the way I paint on canvas.
Gilding is something I learned about when I began working in custom framing gradually through a lot of experimentation and reading on the subject.
For me the more involved framing becomes the more interesting it becomes, few things are more rewarding to me than to frame complicated artifacts successfully and have the customer thrilled with the result."
