Slice of Life: ‘My children need to learn everything before joining the business’

Chennai

I am going to move my shop to Gandhinagar 1st Main Road. The new shop would have a gallery and a workstation behind. In that way, all the equipment would be away and the customers can browse freely. I married into a frame-making family. My father-in-law was into the business for 40 years. He taught me everything about the craft. Before that, I used to be into mobile phone repair, but I left that job for this. My brother-in-law manages the store after my father-in-law passed away. It is good work. It is crafting and can be relaxing. But there are nuances to it. Lately, everybody has a craze for Kerala murals and Tanjore paintings and the like. We need to make sure it is framed right. I have framed everything, across all mediums. For example – you know Egyptian paintings are done on papyrus, right? To make sure the crisscross edges are seen, you need to sandwich the paper between the glass and keep an inch between the frame and painting to show that off. For silk paintings, you need to stretch the paper and make sure the glass is not touching the painting by using a mount. The glass conducts heat, and the paint will melt if you make them touch. My children are interested in taking up the business, but here’s the issue – they need to know how to make the frames themselves. They can’t just sit as a manger. They need to know the difference between a one-and-a-half inch and one-and-a-quarter inch frame. They need to accordingly tell the workers to fix it.