Situated alongside the Merri Creek river in Northcote, we found ourselves visiting the Frame of Mind studio and its surroundings on a sunny Wednesday morning. Owned and operated by Felix and Liam, the studio hums with the sounds of timber being sawn, sanded and strung together to create their signature frames. Next door, Madera Bar and Cafe operates out of a roller door, busily refueling neighbours on their morning walks. The inside walls of the warehouse are decked out with their sustainably harvested Tasmanian oak frames, as the studio doubles as an exhibition space – displaying works with bold brushstrokes and vivid Australiana-like landscapes.
Felix and Liam work opposite each other on a large work bench, busy at work drilling and organising their next projects. Frame of Mind have supplemented their framing work by creating high quality mirrors and some pretty impressive merchandise, in the past making t-shirts and hoodies that were bought up quick by their supporters. No strangers to aesthetics and style, Frame of Mind are releasing some new t-shirts printed with The Print Bar, as their friends and followers have asked for when they can expect more. We spent the morning on a tour of their studio space and had the chance to ask them a few questions about their practice. Keep an eye out for their new t-shirts available now on their website (or Instagram) and make sure to check out their high quality framing work and future events. Thank you to Felix and Liam for their time!
How did Frame of Mind come together?
Frame of Mind started in 2017 as a low key at home operation. I (Felix) come from a background in painting and wanted to learn how to frame to do my own works. A few years later Liam approached me, he was interested in learning framing and had a space that we could utilize at the Auction House he worked at. When Covid hit, Liam took over the business, doing a pick up and drop off service and making frames at home. I went back to University for the year, and in January 2021 we moved into our current workshop in Northcote and started to take things more seriously. We became friends in 2015 when we were both living in Berlin.
What is a typical day like at Frame of Mind?
The days vary depending on where we are at in the workflow. Talking to clients, cutting the profiles, sanding and staining and assembling the frames are the main tasks. Being a small business we both need to be able to contribute in all areas of the process. We spend a lot of time around the work bench together so it makes it easier that we are mates and get along!
What is your process for selecting the materials you use?
We use locally sourced materials and have tried to keep our options simple. We use raw Tasmanian Oak, which allows for a wide variety of finishes, where all our frames are hand made, sanded and stained.
What kind of music are you currently playing in your studio?
We listen to alot of mixes, Hope St Radio, Skylab, etc. Liam likes electro swing (sometimes he wears his fedora in the workshop). Felix is into everything except electro swing.
Do you both have any favourite artists that you are framing for or would like to frame for?
We’re very lucky to work with a great array of very talented local artists. We also get to frame a great amount of indigenous artists from galleries and organisations from communities all around the country such as Martumili Artists, Tjarlirli Art, Pupunya Tula Artists and Warlayirti Artists. Locally it would be great to frame some paintings from Gian Manik, or internationally Isy Wood or Richie Culver!
The merchandise you have created in the past has been a real success, what inspired you to make merchandise and what makes good merch?
Initially it was just for us to have something to wear in the workshop. Fortunately we have a great community supporting Frame of Mind and customers were asking us if we were selling the t-shirts we were wearing when they came in. Felix has some graphic design experience and we thought we’d come up with some more interesting designs if we were going to try and sell them. I think good merch is a bit more design focused and less putting your brand logo front and centre.
If you could give some advice to anyone starting their own business or ventures in a creative field, what would that be?
Reach out to people in the field that you are interested in. Doing short courses and meeting people is a great way to get the ball rolling. NEIS is a government supported program that we completed that helps you create a business plan to start to legitimise things. Knowing your audience and focusing on the aspects that differentiate you from your competitors is really important. We have tried to maintain a level of transparency and authenticity in the way we communicate to our customers.
