Professional picture framer who runs Walsingham Gallery and Framing wins international award with her design for Charles Rennie Mackintosh image
Professional picture framer Heather Green, of Walsingham Gallery and Framing, has received a prestigious award in an international competition she entered inspired by the subject of the challenge.
Her design and handcut mount for an iconic Charles Rennie Mackintosh chair image was announced as one of the winners in the International Art and Framing Industry Awards held by the Fine Art Trade Guild at Stratford-upon-Avon this month.
The awards are for businesses right across the art and framing industry from framing suppliers and manufacturers to individual artists and framers.
Heather, who is a Guild Certified Framer (Accredited Professional Framer), entered, for the first time, the Best Mount Design: Hand Cut competition. All entrants were given an image of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh chair to design and create a mount for, celebrating 150 years since the Scottish designer's birth.
Heather said: "I was very pleased with my design, but the standard is so high, I never dreamt I would win. When it was announced that the image for this year’s mount design award was a Mackintosh chair, I just had to enter. I have been an admirer of Mackintosh design since my teens when studying art and design at school.
"And as a family we had strong connections in Scotland. We lived there when we were young and visited often. My brother and I were both born close to Glasgow. I fondly remember searching out the Mackintosh buildings and iconic sites with my mum in 1990 when Glasgow was the European City of Culture.
"I even dreamt at that time of attending Glasgow School of Art, one of Mackintosh’s most famous buildings. Mum was a huge Mackintosh fan, she would have liked my design."
Heather’s design is a triple mount with cut-outs, channels, oval and square-cut combinations and rich velvet squares to echo the shapes and textures in the image.
It is intended to be reminiscent of the Mackintosh style by incorporating a combination of stylised, organic curved elements with straight lines and geometric shapes. As in all good mount design, the colours used are intended to enhance and complement the image.
The mount was entirely cut with hand-operated equipment as defined in the entry criteria for the category.
Heather has been leading the team at Walsingham Gallery & Framing since 2014 when the original owners retired. She has over 20 years' experience in the framing industry. This July marks the fifth anniversary of ownership of the business.
She was presented with her award by Slater Harrison, of the sponsor Colourmount, a leading UK mountboard manufacturer.
