'Changing Seasons' art by Virginia Unseld

We are excited to have Virginia Unseld's work on display.

Virginia does most of her work painted in Plein Air settings 

Enjoy the:  

'Changing Seasons' 

a few of her paintings in our showroom 

October Sun

Road Signs 2

Cattle Country
my personal favorite

O'Keeffe's  Mountain

Mt Evans from Gilpin

Spring is in the Air

Winter Driving Shady Grove

September Song

Make sure to come in and view these wonderful paintings by Virginia Unseld, these works will be coming back down Nov. 15th.

Our Annual Painting Away Ovarian Cancer - 2014

Last Sunday we held our fourth annual Painting Away Ovarian Cancer Class.
As expected it was a great success, largely due to Jean Murr, an Ovarian Cancer survivor herself.  She shared her knowledge, painting skills and encouragement, along with her own struggles of fighting this disease, with her students and families, many of whom are cancer survivors.  Some had never painted, but all had a lot of fun, and turned out some amazing paintings.

















Every year aprons are donated, with a note to the recipient to give them encouragement and hope. These aprons are hand made with love by various women who want to give a part of themselves to this cause.  A beautiful flower arrangement assembled by Jean, along with a print of one of her paintings (framed by Belmar Frame and Art) were the grand prize's, but everyone was given a gift (from certificates to lotions, movie passes, etc).

Jean does a great job making all the food for the event,as well as all the other preparation necessary to pull off this very special class.  (A big Huge Thanks to Jean for all her hard work).
Cup cakes are donated by Kassie's  Sugar Art Cakes.

The last two years we have created a community painting,
where everyone paints on one painting.
This painting will be donated to a silent auction
and the money will be given to Ovarian Cancer research.


























Jean's Oncologist, Dr. Behbakht comes and speaks, sharing his knowledge,  concerns and wisdom, with everyone.  He also paints on the community painting, and talks to anyone who has any concerns or questions.

The purpose of the event is to open these women up to a form of therapy, to help get them through the rough times of having and conquering cancer.  Everyone has a great time and we all are blessed with new friends and relationships.

Thanks to all for another wonderful experience.
Love you all.

Jean & Judy Owner of Belmar Frame & Art

New Window Display

'Masks of Venice'

Gropper and Benton Lithographs

We recently had the honor of having two Original Hand Signed Lithographs by Gropper and Benton, come into our shop for re-framing.

What a pleasure it was to take these fabulous artworks out of their original framing which utilized potentially damaging acidic mating, backing and an improper mounting with masking tape.  (At least they had not been glued down). In spite of the way they were framed,  the art had been well cared for and not exposed to much direct lighting. Therefore, they were still in very good condition with only a slight acid burn caused by the use of non-acid free materials. The masking tape, of course, had to be carefully removed before we could proceed with the conservation framing of these collectible Lithographs.

Both artworks were re-framed using archival materials, including UV protective glass to preserve the value of these two old gems.

Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we did.

"Diogenes"
William Gropper

William "Bill" Gropper (1897-1977) was born in New York City, the eldest of 6 children. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Romania and Ukraine. Harry Gropper, Bill's father, was university-educated and fluent in 8 languages, but upon coming to America was unable to secure employment in a field for which he was well suited and could only find work in the garment industry. As a result, most of William's childhood was lived in poverty on New York's Lower East Side. Failure of the American economic system to make proper use of his father's education and abilities most likely contributed to William Gropper's lifelong antipathy to capitalism.

At age 13, Bill took his first art instruction class at Ferrer School, where he studied under two well known artists, George Bellows and Robert Henri. In 1913, Gropper graduated from public school, earning a medal in art and a scholarship to the National Academy of Design, however, the strong-willed young artist refused to conform to the academy's structure and was subsequently expelled. In 1915, Bill showed a portfolio of his work to the head of the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts. The work so impressed Frank Parsons that Gropper was offered a scholarship to the school.

William Gropper later became a notable cartoonist, painter, lithographer and muralist. A committed radical, Gropper is best known for his political artwork which he contributed to many left-wing publications.











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"Island Hay"
Thomas Hart Benton

Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) was born in Neosho, Missouri. During 1907 Benton enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago. He thereafter moved to Paris in 1909 to continue his art education and became well acquainted with many avant-garde artists. After studying in Europe, Thomas returned to America in 1913 and settled in New York City to resume his art career. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Navy at Norfolk, Virginia and received an assignment to design and instruct others on how to "properly" paint camouflage. After the war, Benton returned to New York and soon after declared himself an "enemy of modernism". It was at this time when he began the naturalistic and representational work he is most noted for. During the 1930's he returned to the mid-west and found his acceptable place in Kansas City, MO.

Thomas Hart Benton became one of the foremost painters and muralists associated with the American Regionalists of the 1930's along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry. Benton taught at the Art Students League in New York City, where a young Jackson Pollock was one of his pupils. Later, from 1935 to 1941 Benton was an art instructor at the Kansas City Art Institute and School of Design, Kansas City, Mo.

Visit Our Gallery

Experience the 'VIBRANT COLORS'  Of Jean Murr & Lee Shapiro 
On Display thru October 8th

                                                                    

This may not look like much but with no multi angle saw in the shop it was a challenge. Just how do you create an eight sided frame with only a 45degree miter saw? Since I have a habit of the NEVER SAY NO POLICY we had to figure it out. Gary built a jig and this is what we now have, the ability to cut eight sided frames and perfectly I might add. Wow I love the challenges of this Job!!!

Why Custom Framing? - Part Two

Why Custom Framing? - Part Two

The custom framer is trained in the fundamentals of what makes a good design and the proper way to handle the items that are presented before them.  The object of framing is twofold: presentation and preservation.  By enclosing the item in a frame you are not only creating something attractive for your home or office, you are preserving it for future generations.  Depending on the worth, either personal or financial, the framer can help you decide the proper way to display and maintain its value.

Your framer has a huge vocabulary of knowledge in the variety of products available, such as matting, glazing, mounting materials, moldings, fillets, liners and more.  He or she knows exactly how to handle and care for your fine art, photos, memorabilia, textiles or just about anything you want to preserve.  Using a variety of methods and materials to properly mount every form of media, or special project you bring in, he or she can help you find exactly what you are looking for, while leaving you feeling confident not only in your design choices, but in your decision to have it framed by a custom frame shop.

There is a vast amount of "knowledge" and "craftsmanship" that can go into a custom framing job--from the basic or simple job, to the extremely complex and difficult job;  from a tiny 3" x 3" piece to an oversize 10' x 4' piece. There is very little a good custom frame shop can't do.

Many custom framers offer the service of fixing and repairing old frames, as well as art restoration services (or they should have a network of people to refer you to).

Bottom line--your custom framer is happy to serve and help you, with whatever you need done, and with just the right amount of TLC.  After all That's what we do.