Picture Framing Gallery is an owner-operated frame shop, printing service and small art gallery on Raycroft Street in Opawa, Christchurch. It is run by Mark Feringa, a framer with around 30 years of experience whose background is firmly in art — a 1st place winner in Art at high school, one of just eight Robert Triggs Scholarship recipients in Christchurch, and 1st place getter at the Sumner Art Society Annual Exhibition in 1994. Today he runs the gallery day to day, enjoys photography, and exhibits his own work in the shop.
The shop's guiding line is 'framing solutions artistically designed at realistic pricing'. Services cover classic framing with matting board, glass and moulding — with conservation and non-conservation matting standards, four glass options and mouldings sourced from three NZ suppliers — as well as block mounts, jersey framing, medals and memorabilia, and canvas stretching. A professional printing service is also offered, with quotes given by email.
Alongside the workshop, the gallery sells artwork: prints and posters, photography, children's art, and originals and limited editions, along with Mark Ferringa's own photography. The shop is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturday from 10am to 4pm.
On Raycroft Street in Opawa, Picture Framing Gallery does exactly what its name promises — and a little more besides. It is a working frame shop where prints, photos, jerseys, medals and canvases are framed to order, a professional printing service, and a small gallery where artwork is always on the walls and for sale.
The business is owned and run by Mark Feringa, whose guiding line for the shop is simple: framing solutions artistically designed at realistic pricing.
Mark has spent around 30 years in the craft, and his credentials go back further than that. He took 1st place in Art at high school, was one of just eight recipients of the Robert Triggs Scholarship in Christchurch, and won 1st place at the Sumner Art Society's Annual Exhibition in 1994. These days he runs the gallery day to day, still enjoys photography, and exhibits his own work in the shop.
That background matters when you bring something in to be framed. Framing is a series of judgement calls — which shade of mat, which moulding, how much space around the piece — and Mark is an expert at selecting the right shade of matting board to complement both the artwork and the wall colour it will hang on.
The core service is classic framing with matting board, glass and moulding, which the gallery describes as extremely versatile and flattering for a wide range of images and items. Matting board comes in conservation and non-conservation standards, and artwork can sit behind a window mat or be float mounted to show its edges. There are four glass choices: standard, described as the best value for money; non-reflective; UV70; and UV. Moulding options are deliberately wide, drawn from three NZ suppliers, with custom staining available to match a piece perfectly.
Not everything suits a traditional frame. Block mounting gives pictures a clean, contemporary look: a wooden block is cut to the exact size of the picture, the artwork is attached with an expertly applied even spread of glue, the paper edges are trimmed, and a matt or gloss protective coat is sprayed on before picture hooks are fitted to the back. Posters, the shop notes, are particularly well suited to this style of display.
Dedicated options also exist for jerseys and for medals and memorabilia, and there is a canvas stretching service for painters and canvas pieces.
Between framing jobs, the gallery doubles as a place to buy art. Collections include prints and posters, photography, children's art, and originals and limited editions. Mark Ferringa's photography is exhibited in the gallery, so a visit can easily become a browse as well as a consultation.
There is a professional printing service too — useful if you have a digital image you would like turned into something frameable — with a price guide available and quotes given by email.
Picture Framing Gallery is at 8 Raycroft Street in Opawa, open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturday from 10am to 4pm. To start a framing project, email or use the website's contact form with details of your piece — the shop asks customers to email for a quote. PayPal is listed among the accepted payment methods.
Whether you arrive with a favourite poster, a child's painting, a hard-won jersey or an original artwork, the offer is the same: artistically designed framing at realistic pricing, from someone who has spent decades looking closely at pictures.