For last year’s framing competition, the winner of the Judge’s Choice Best in Show was able to select a Cloud 9 experience. The grand prize winner, Francine Hackerott from The Frame & I in Prescott, AZ,  chose to parasail, do a dolphin excursion, and attend a snorkel tour in Oahu, Hawaii.  Tru Vue® asked Francine to create a framing piece that revealed her adventure.  Below you will find what inspired Francine and how she included intricate detailing to her framing project.

 

The moment

 

The inspiration for this framing project stemmed from the Best in Show award that Francine Hackerott won for last year’s framing competition. If you recall, Francine took the top award with her entry, Eternal Remembrance. Last year’s grand prize was her own Tru Frameable Moment™, a Cloud 9 adventure that she was able to experience while on vacation with her family in Hawaii.

 

 

Besides her win, Francine had three other great reasons to take her family to the island of Oahu for a celebration. These three reasons were, her father turning 70 years old, her one son graduating from college, and another from high school. Since the other part of her prize, in addition to the trip, was a stipend to create framing package for this Tru Frameable Moment™, Francine came up with an ingenious design that commemorates each individual’s milestone as part of a whole piece inspired by the Polynesian beauty of the islands.

 

 

The design

 

Francine based the design on celebrating each family member’s participation on their adventures in Hawaii. During their travels, each family member had a photograph taken and collected a memento that signified some aspect of the trip. Each pair of these is framed on its own for a total of four separate frames. These individual frames can be hung separately or hung together.  When they are put together, they show the design of a hibiscus, Hawaii’s state flower.

 

 

As a master woodworker, Francine began with stock bamboo to create the frames. Because bamboo isn’t too hard, she was able to use a stippling method to make the hibiscus design on the moulding. She used a dark stain in the lines to further enhance the image.

 

 

Details from the island and the trip

 

Working with sand, she continued the floral design onto the backing of the frames using two layers of hard board with different colors of sand. The hibiscus design is cut into the top board and is layered over the bottom, which is covered with darker sand. The sand is adhered to the boards with a PVA adhesive. The photograph and mementos are float-mounted above. Each of the frames is glazed with Museum Glass®, which provides the clarity such intricate detailing requires.

 

 

For her father, this trip wasn’t just for a birthday milestone; it was also an opportunity to visit the town he grew up in, Waimanalo, which is also on Oahu. In his frame, Francine included a photograph along with beach glass collected from the beach he grew up playing on. In one of her son’s frames is a photograph with remnants from his straw hat from the trip, and in the others is a heart-shaped piece of coral. Francine’s frame includes a line from a poem her son wrote while on the island in a bottle.

 

 

A special moment for all to remember

 

“Everyone will take their piece, but as a whole, it represents this special time together,” said Francine. “Because the others knew I was going to be creating a piece from this trip, everyone played a part in picking out what would be included and contributed to the entire piece.”

 

 

While each family member will have their part of the whole, Francine plans to take photos of the project with the four pieces together to show customers an inventive way to create something that can stand on its own, but also serves as part of a collection.

 

 

Tru Vue is launching its 6th Annual Framing Competition on September 5th, 2017. Click here to enter today!