THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 12, 1995 TAG: 9507110115
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
There's no doubt that Maria Holland's business involves bringing the product to the customer. Her gray Mazda sedan routinely houses about 400 pieces of framing, a measuring tape, mat samples and catalogs of artwork.
Holland owns and operates Frame Worx, a mobile framing business that goes to the customer's home or business and offers frames, mats, glass and even the artwork.
``I have and bring anything that you would see if you went to a frame shop or gallery,'' said Holland, 34. ``No job is too small for me. I've found that usually leads to bigger things.''
Holland specializes in helping customers pick out frames to match their decor or furniture. She helps with selecting the right type of mat - which comes in a number of colors and different fabrics, including leather - the right frame and sometimes even the accompanying artwork.
There is no additional charge for Holland to make a home or office visit.
``It's much more personalized to go to someone's home,'' said the Richmond native. ``For instance, lighting is always different in each home and there are other things in the home to coordinate with.''
Holland offers several types of services: a free in-home consultation for custom frames; a ``wall design'' service in which she helps a customer enhance or change decor with existing art; and lastly a service where she will search for a particular piece or type of art, even offering customers catalogs of limited edition prints and posters.
The custom framing consultation is free; however, there is a charge - $5 per wall - for the wall decorating advice. Sometimes, Holland says, it's just a matter of changing an already-framed picture or changing the color of a mat to give the room a different appearance. Depending on what needs to be done, the cost for the advice can go up.
As for the framing business, frames cost $20 and up. Holland is currently working on an ornate double frame for a customer that costs $650. She isn't limited to big spenders, however. She's also helped people in apartments and is just as happy to dry-mount a poster for someone for $20 as she is selling high-end frames.
In addition to a home consultation, Holland has the frames assembled by two local framers and then delivers them back to the customer for free.
The trends in frames change constantly, said Holland, who reads trade magazines and keeps up with art gallery talk to stay in tune with the world of frames.
``If someone's interested in talking fabric, I turn them over to a designer. That's not my thing,'' she said.
She began the mobile framing business in 1990, after having worked for a local frame company that is now out of business.
Prior to that, she worked as a sales person selling a temporary service to corporate clients.
She graduated from James Madison University in 1983 with a degree in fine arts with an emphasis on graphic design.
By the time she graduated, though, she had had her fill of graphic design and moved to Virginia Beach for a job in sales.
After several years, and the stint in a frame shop, her mobile framing business was born out of necessity more than anything.
As a diabetic, she needed a job that had flexible hours so that she could rest when she needed to.
Working mainly in the evenings and on the weekends has afforded her a career as well as time for resting. Holland's husband, Langley Holland, owns Kyne Sport, a sporting goods business he runs out of the couple's Lands End condo. In fact, they share an office and a phone in their home. MEMO: To reach Frame Worx call 491-0798.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
It's much more personalized to go to someone's home,'' says Maria
Holland, who owns and operates Frame Worx out of her Virginia Beach
condo. ``For instance, lighting is always different in each home and
there are other things in the home to coordinate with.''
by CNB