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Focus on: Sophie Brown, Sophie Brown Conservation Framing
July 7, 2014 By Barbara Bryan
Sophie Brown
Sophie Brown, proprietor of Sophie Brown Conservation Framing in Sydney, Australia, embodies competence, elegance and eloquence — so it isn’t surprising that she is one of Australia’s finest and most highly recognized conservation framers, with a passion and enthusiasm for delivering the ultimate product and service in conservation framing to her clients.
Moving from her birthplace in Yorkshire, United Kingdom, qualified as a nurse, Sophie immigrated to Australia 25 years ago, where she is now very much at home.
Inspired in part by a father who used to make his own frames, Sophie has always loved photography and art. At some point while nursing, she spotted an evening class on picture framing and set up a work room at home. Then, looking to expand her knowledge further, she found June Andersen’s Framing School. Sophie loved the course and registered her first business, Visual Edge, at which point June offered her a role. June and Sophie worked together for eight years. June mentored Sophie, sharing her experience at the Victorian & Albert Museum in London, among other places. Between them, they counted most of Sydney’s museums and galleries as their clients, working in collaboration with conservators, many of whom would go on to become friends over the years.
Sophie has been learning her highly-skilled craft for some twenty years. A PPFA-certified framer since 1999, she is a GCF Guild-commended framer from the Fine Art Trade Guild (London, 1997) and an Advanced GCF, specializing in conservation (2007) – the third person to achieve that distinction in the world. An official GCF examiner in Australia, she can use her studio as the testing venue for GCF-certification candidates.
Sophie has not looked back since deciding to branch out on her own ten years ago. The business she established in Stanmore has enjoyed the support of many colleagues in the conservation world as well as that of the local community and substantial organizations such as International Conservation Services (ICS), among others.
Sophie is affiliated with internationally-recognized framers and teachers in the framing industry. She works with many conservators to resolve framing and conservation challenges creatively and collaboratively. She has been involved with several high-profile national museums and art galleries, mounting, hinging and framing artworks for exhibitions.
Sophie is devoted to her work, which has expanded over time to include the care of private client collections. She enjoys what she does and feels lucky to have dealings with a wide range of art lovers, handling often rare and precious artworks in the process. Much of the joy in her work comes from the deep satisfaction she will often see in a client’s face at the sight of the completed piece – as it does from the recognition of the professional care and attention to detail evident in the finished product. Sophie works with the CPF-qualified Jonathan Dennis. A dedicated young framer who is also a GCF (2010), Jonathan, who hails originally from Manchester, has made a significant contribution to a growing business.
Sophie is a member of PPFA and PMA. She comments that “…any organization that supports an industry with education, with resources and with the opportunity to network with other framers is really important because many framers would otherwise find themselves quite isolated. The more you can share experience, the more you will learn.” She adds that “…seeing my EFTPOS fees reduced through my membership was also a great benefit.”
When Sophie is not framing, she likes to cycle most weekends. She has a kayak, loves cooking and enjoys the great outdoors. On her latest holiday, in the South Island of New Zealand, she had the thrill of using a friend’s vintage Hasselblad camera. She recently did a course with Gordon Undy, a Sydney-based photographer and gallery owner, to return to traditional black-and-white photography and the darkroom.
Drop in to Sophie’s Stanmore studio and not only will you hear fine classical music or jazz playing in the background, but you will also meet Ella, Sophie’s miniature black Schnauzer, whose responsibility it is to ‘meet-and-greet’ clients and provide ‘security services.’ Ella comes to work every day. Sophie suspects that she has become a key part of the attraction!
Wow! What a delightful person Sophie is! And with ten years’ loyal PPFA membership, she’s just about perfect…
– By Barbara Bryan
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL PRESS RELEASE...
July 7, 2014 By Barbara Bryan
Sophie Brown
Sophie Brown, proprietor of Sophie Brown Conservation Framing in Sydney, Australia, embodies competence, elegance and eloquence — so it isn’t surprising that she is one of Australia’s finest and most highly recognized conservation framers, with a passion and enthusiasm for delivering the ultimate product and service in conservation framing to her clients.
Moving from her birthplace in Yorkshire, United Kingdom, qualified as a nurse, Sophie immigrated to Australia 25 years ago, where she is now very much at home.
Inspired in part by a father who used to make his own frames, Sophie has always loved photography and art. At some point while nursing, she spotted an evening class on picture framing and set up a work room at home. Then, looking to expand her knowledge further, she found June Andersen’s Framing School. Sophie loved the course and registered her first business, Visual Edge, at which point June offered her a role. June and Sophie worked together for eight years. June mentored Sophie, sharing her experience at the Victorian & Albert Museum in London, among other places. Between them, they counted most of Sydney’s museums and galleries as their clients, working in collaboration with conservators, many of whom would go on to become friends over the years.
Sophie has been learning her highly-skilled craft for some twenty years. A PPFA-certified framer since 1999, she is a GCF Guild-commended framer from the Fine Art Trade Guild (London, 1997) and an Advanced GCF, specializing in conservation (2007) – the third person to achieve that distinction in the world. An official GCF examiner in Australia, she can use her studio as the testing venue for GCF-certification candidates.
Sophie has not looked back since deciding to branch out on her own ten years ago. The business she established in Stanmore has enjoyed the support of many colleagues in the conservation world as well as that of the local community and substantial organizations such as International Conservation Services (ICS), among others.
Sophie is affiliated with internationally-recognized framers and teachers in the framing industry. She works with many conservators to resolve framing and conservation challenges creatively and collaboratively. She has been involved with several high-profile national museums and art galleries, mounting, hinging and framing artworks for exhibitions.
Sophie is devoted to her work, which has expanded over time to include the care of private client collections. She enjoys what she does and feels lucky to have dealings with a wide range of art lovers, handling often rare and precious artworks in the process. Much of the joy in her work comes from the deep satisfaction she will often see in a client’s face at the sight of the completed piece – as it does from the recognition of the professional care and attention to detail evident in the finished product. Sophie works with the CPF-qualified Jonathan Dennis. A dedicated young framer who is also a GCF (2010), Jonathan, who hails originally from Manchester, has made a significant contribution to a growing business.
Sophie is a member of PPFA and PMA. She comments that “…any organization that supports an industry with education, with resources and with the opportunity to network with other framers is really important because many framers would otherwise find themselves quite isolated. The more you can share experience, the more you will learn.” She adds that “…seeing my EFTPOS fees reduced through my membership was also a great benefit.”
When Sophie is not framing, she likes to cycle most weekends. She has a kayak, loves cooking and enjoys the great outdoors. On her latest holiday, in the South Island of New Zealand, she had the thrill of using a friend’s vintage Hasselblad camera. She recently did a course with Gordon Undy, a Sydney-based photographer and gallery owner, to return to traditional black-and-white photography and the darkroom.
Drop in to Sophie’s Stanmore studio and not only will you hear fine classical music or jazz playing in the background, but you will also meet Ella, Sophie’s miniature black Schnauzer, whose responsibility it is to ‘meet-and-greet’ clients and provide ‘security services.’ Ella comes to work every day. Sophie suspects that she has become a key part of the attraction!
Wow! What a delightful person Sophie is! And with ten years’ loyal PPFA membership, she’s just about perfect…
– By Barbara Bryan
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL PRESS RELEASE...
