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Date: 2/22/2021
EASTHAMPTON – Twenty years ago Jean-Pierre Pasche opened his custom framing shop, Big Red Frame or formerly known as Eastmont Custom Framing in a reconverted gas station on Union Street.
In 2009, the native of Switzerland moved to the Old Town Hall and four years later in 2013, he changed the name of his shop after his outdoor sculpture he had placed at Art in the Orchard, an outdoor sculpture exhibit became so popular.
“I have a very large red frame there that is part of a permanent installation. It is like 14 feet wide by 9 feet tall and people can go in and have their picture taken with Mt. Tom as the background; it is quite spectacular,” Pasche said.
Art in the Orchard was created in 2011 out of an idea that Pasche shared with the owners of Park Hill Orchard, Russell Braen and Alane Hartley, who wanted to be involved in the creative community, and together the three of them came up with the idea of having a biennial event with sculptures on their property. This year will mark their sixth biennial.
Pasche told Reminder Publishing that he got into picture framing by accident. In his teenage years, he had an apprenticeship to learn how to bind books, and then he retired in his 20s because he thought it would be better to retire while he was young and healthy so his professional career started in his late 20s and early 30s.
After traveling around the world for several years, in 1987, he purchased a business named Cadre et Livre which means “frame and book” in French from a man who was retiring. The man was a bookbinder and a picture framer and that is where Pasche discovered framing.
The man taught him the basics and after a while, Pasche realized he was a framer and not a bookbinder.
He framed there for 10 years before moving to the United States with his wife and children.
“I think I was very lucky to arrive in Easthampton at the right time and that my business was fitting very well in the new cultural identity that Easthampton was slowly building along with other organizations and businesses that all arrived pretty much within two or three years of each other,” Pasche said.
“We were able to grow with Easthampton and grow Easthampton at the same time. It does not feel like 20 years because it has been a great satisfaction to work and live in this town that has seen so much change for the better. It is a great place to work and live in. I hardly ever miss Switzerland,” he added.
Even though he has been framing for 30 years, he does not feel old because he is surrounded by creativity and by hundred of artists or people who are interested in the arts. He believes there is a constant renewal and rejuvenation.
After all these years he still finds every custom job to be unique. He says even though a frame is a frame, it is never the same thing. Every customer is different and there is always something special about the work and always new challenges because there is always something they have never framed before.
What he finds beautiful about custom framing is that whoever comes into his shop brings something dear to them so he believes the service he provides is not just practical or to enhance the look of the home, it is also very emotional.
Pasche shared that before his interview with Reminder Publishing, someone picked up their artwork and when she saw what he had done with her sentimental images she began to cry.
“This is so rewarding for us because we provide a little more than custom framing services, we help preserve memories in a creative way,” he said.
When the pandemic is over he is looking forward to seeing people’s faces again and give hugs. On a more local level, he is excited to resume their monthly art walks to have that nice interaction between businesses and visitors.
Currently, Big Red Frame is appointment only and Pasche allows one customer in at a time. When COVID-19 restrictions lift, he will continue to see people by appointment only to be on the safe side and to be able to provide a safe and stress-free environment.
He added that it prevents people from waiting on him while he works with other customers because some can take up to 45 minutes due to the complexity or how many items they bring to frame.
To make an appointment, call the shop at 529-9265.
Pasche has over 2,000 framing samples which means there are essentially 2,000 different prices. He said that some frames could cost as little as $3 a foot and some could cost $35 a foot. Since pricing varies he always tries to accommodate the budget of the customer.
Since he does not know what people will choose for their framing design, he does not stock a lot of material.
Unless someone needs their item framed sooner for a gift or an exhibit they have, his turn around time right now is about a month because the chain of supply during the pandemic is hard. He shared that a lot of his things come from overseas and some factories are closed right now.
During the height of the pandemic when businesses were shut down, Big Red Frame lost 80 percent of his business compared to previous years during the same months and had to let go of the only other employee, Rachel Ciecko, who has worked with him for five years. He does anticipate hiring her back.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Pasche did curbside service only. People would bring their item to them and he would collect it outside and then he would send them pictures of frames and mat boards based on what he thinks they would like or what he thinks goes well with their item being framed. Pasche shared that it was complicated but now people can come in safely.
He shared that the early stages were scary and that he had to reach out to customers to ask for help. They had the option of purchasing frame credits which were pre-paying for framing that they wanted to do later on or buy gift cards for people.
“We are very grateful that many people came forward and helped us go through the toughest months of the pandemic,” he said.
Pasche said the pandemic has been the hardest thing his business has gone through in the past 20 years.
City Space, a nonprofit organization that manages the first floor of the building, also waived the rent for three months which helped him and his business. He said in 20 years so much has happened but he is lucky to be one of the tenants of Old Town Hall.
Pasche recognized that the community is wonderful and people were there to help each other out.
He said Big Red Frame is lucky compared to other retail businesses because there was still a demand for framing. He shared that since people were at home more, they were deciding to do something about their home so that brought him more customers who had never thought of custom framing before.
Even during a pandemic, Pasche says he is excited to work every morning and feels lucky to have survived comfortably but is still not totally out of the woods yet.
Big Red Frame also has the Elusie Gallery, a gallery for artists to exhibit their work. Over the last ten years, it has provided monthly exhibits. Pasche said the openings were part of the town’s monthly art walk.
The gallery has been closed since March except for one exhibit that was hosted in the fall but without a reception, just art on the walls and images online.
“It has been a little sad, that is really the only challenging and difficult part of the business. The part that suffered. We were not able to bring in people to enjoy new art, we haven’t been able to offer the artists the ability to show their work,” said Pasche.
By next spring or early summer, he is hoping to reopen the gallery in a limited way because their receptions usually have 80 to 200 people. He is thinking of having week-long meet the artists events so people can sign-up to attend and it will prevent so many people from visiting in one day.