On this day 36 years ago, Pogue Mahone performed their first ever gig at The Pindar of Wakefield.  Below you can read about how two customers were inspired to showcase their albums and other memorabilia into a beautiful shadowbox that they can admire in their home every day.

 

 

The story

 

This framed collection of albums and performance bills gives a whole new meaning to the concept of “repeat business.”

 

 

A few years ago, a painting we displayed at The Gallery at Finer Frames captured the interest of a couple who were frequent visitors to our shop. It was of a street scene in Paris from Evelyne Brigeois, an artist who split her time between France and Idaho. After the couple spent some time with the painting in their home, they became curious about the posters and concert bills depicted in the scene, and began to collect albums and other memorabilia from the bands in those posters. Once they had amassed quite a few items, the couple decided they wanted to do something with them and brought the project to us.

 

 

The design

 

The design for the piece is inspired by the painting itself, the central element of which is a billboard of concert posters and band advertisements. We began with a backing meant to look like an old billboard plastered with performance bills, made from laminate flooring, which was the easiest way to get the wood color and grain we wanted. Though the placement of the items is meant to look haphazard at first glance, in the way that concert notices and performance bills are layered atop each other, no aspect of the design is an accident. We created a balance of color with red items and yellow details placed to take the eye in a triangle across the design. Dark items are in the lower part of the piece for visual weight. Balance is also achieved with the square and rectangular shapes of the album covers and posters, and the round albums.

 

 

We created the depth to accommodate these items and this layering with two black frames made of shadowbox moulding and standard moulding turned on its side.

 

 

This layered, multi-dimensional look also required exceptional clarity from the glazing. Because of this, we chose Optium Museum Acrylic®, which also was essential to keeping the weight of the piece as light as possible. With the laminate backing and the memorabilia, the piece was already fairly heavy. In addition, Optium Museum Acrylic is shatter-proof, abrasion-resistant and static-resistant. It also provides 99% UV protection, which is important for preserving the piece, a labor of love for our customers, for the long term.

 

 

The response

 

When we revealed this piece at a customer appreciation event in our shop, The Gallery at Finer Frames in Eagle, Idaho, our customers were surprised at how these personal treasures could be combined to create art. Not only did they get to experience the surprise of the reveal, other customers were able to see how their passions and collections could become not just a personal expression but also a beautiful piece to display in their homes.