A: Oh - all sorts!  Any extra money that Jasmine lets me spend pretty much 100% goes to outfitting my workshop!  My primary tool is the Dremel - Dremels are a godsend for power-carvers.  Other very important ones are electrical carving tools, scrollsaw (very important), jigsaw (also very important), bandsaw, circular saw, regular old handsaw - well, lots of saws!  Mitre box (for angles), joiners, etc.  I have ancient tools I've had to restore that came from Jasmine's grandfather when he passed away, and then I have lots of fun new Home Depot technology too!  My favourite tools though are the handtools - the basic files and picks and hand saws that I just get to do the "monkey work" with.  As Jasmine would put it.

 7.) Is their machinery involved in making those frames or do you do them by hand?

 A:  Definitely both - I couldn't do these with just one or the other.  Basically I use the power/electrical/commputerized tools to rough things out, and then the fun parts are done by hand.  Once the basics are done, that is my time for fun - I sit out on the back porch with my files and hand tools and Jasmine brings me iced tea or lemonade.

 8.) Do you draw the designs for the frames or does Jasmine do it?

 A: A combination of the two.  Well mostly Jasmine, but I do contribute a lot as well.  Often an idea will start off maybe as a pencil sketch on a napkin or piece of scrap paper.  I'll either go to Jasmine and say "What do you think this could turn into?" or Jasmine will come to me with an idea and say "Is this something you could potentially try to make?" and we'll go from there.  Mostly though Jasmine will provide me with a sketch or template that she has concocted, and it's up to me to try to make it actually happen.  Between the two of us we have a phenomenal library of historical and architectural plans, resources, patterns, etc.  We'll go to museums and antique stores and try to come up with new interpretations of classical themes.  Also - in addition to the frames I make for Jasmine, I also help her out with framing and restoring existing frames (often imported or antique frames) that she finds at antique stores, estate sales, flea markets, etc. and framing her paintings in them.  That's nowhere near as fun, but necessary.  I can't keep up with the speed at which she paints, so we have to get a lot of ready made frames in addition to the ones I make for her.  Sometimes though the ones she finds are in such sorry shape I have to do a lot of work on them too, lol.

 9.) Is the computer involved with the work and if so how?

 A: Yes often!  If I need something very precisely measured or exactly carved (like down to a milimeter) you can't beat a computerized/electrical cutting or carving tools.  It also saves a ton of time in the early stages.  We'll often use a computer too if we have something we want resized, flipped around, carved more precisely, or want a cutout or template that is exactly symmetrical.  Like if Jasmine has a sketch or pattern she wants me to do, I can scan it in and mirror it across the middle or re-size it so that it is exactly the size we want and shape we want.  Also great for making a template I can even print out or reproduce if I want to re-create one of my frames again - if I'm happy with something I really want to make more or improve upon my past designs.

 10.) What are your mediums or materials you love to work with the best?

 A: Wood!  I know that most frames nowadays are made from composites, resin, foam, etc. - or sometimes Jasmine will have old antique frames she wants me to put her artwork in that are made out of gesso, plaster, etc. - and they can look great - but when you come right down to it, I am very hands-on and really dig wood.  I like oak, poplar, pine, you name it.  I don't finish the frames myself - I let Jasmine do that part - she has a stash of various metallic paints, gold leaf, patinas, etc. - I don't involve myself with that (it's basically painting) - I just like the wood part and the framing part!

 11.) How long does it take from the first thought of the design to the finishing touches for a frame?

 A: A lot longer than it does for Jasmine to paint the painting that goes in it!  Usually about a week, but I'll have a lot of other stuff going on at the same time, so it's hard to say.  The hand-tooling and hand-filing part takes the most time and effort on my part, that's a lot more work that the powertools part of it. 

 12.) Do you make the frame first or is it made after the art is done or do you both decide what to do before both pieces?

 A: It depends on whether or not it is an actual frame (empty, with Jasmine painting on a separate panel or canvas that is later inserted) or if it's all one piece that Jasmine is going to do the actual painting on the panel itself.  For example with the altarpiece style triptychs the frame is part of the panel - like all one piece (or three, if it's a triptych I guess) - those I have to make first and then Jasmine paints on top of it.  For frames that are open wood/empty frames - those often are made afterwards, with Jasmine coming to me with a finished painting and with a vague idea of a frame she wants for it.  In that case I have to be careful to make it the correct size and depth and theme for the existing painting.

 13.) What is the biggest price you have gotten for one of your frames?

 A: Well that's hard to say because I've never sold a frame by itself.  Every frame I've made has had one of Jasmine's original paintings in it.  So for example if we sold a piece (me making the frame, her making the painting) for $3,000  - there's no real way to tell how much of that was the frame, and how much of it was the painting.  Would it have sold at $3,000 if it were unframed or had a plain frame?  Who knows?  Jasmine would probably claim the painting was $2999 and the frame was a dollar!  (No, not really - she's really a sweetie!).  Often though pieces I frame of Jasmine's climb into the $2-$3K range.  Jasmine would probably keep track of that more than I would.

 14.) When did you know that this was what you loved to do?

 A: I think it is when I realized it didn't feel like "work."   For example when I worked at a frameshop there were always deadlines and I was always working to somebody else's specifications.  Customers were usually more concerned about a piece matching their sofa than they were about creativity.  But working for Jasmine I get such creative control I feel free.  Now I just want to get to the point where I can solely do the fun framing and woodworking part of the job and ditch the whole printing/packing/shipping part (ahem, Jasmine, hire more people, ahem).  We'll see.

 15.) Do you plan on expanding this somehow or is it just for Jasmines work?

 A: This is really just for Jasmine.  I would like to do more woodworking for myself - building furniture for our home, I'd love to build a boat, dressers, a table, stuff like that.  Things for myself and my family - not anything to sell to others.  I'd love to do some frames just for me and artwork for us to hang in the house, not to sell.   It just complements my job working for Jasmine so well and I enjoy framing, so I do it for her, but I wouldn't be interested in selling frames by themselves or to sell with other people's artwork etc.

 16.) Where do you do this work in a shop, a garage, a building and how much area does it take?

 A: Basically we have a 2-and-a-half car garage that is detached from the house (good thing, because it gets damn noisy when I have powertools on!) and I use it primarily for framing and woodworking.  That's where I do my stuff.  We also have a room in the house where Jasmine keeps her ready made frames, frames to be restored, all the crap (er, I mean beautiful finds) that Jasmine gets from outside sources, but I keep that separate than my own frames.  When we bought this house the garage was a big deciding factor - I said, "Jasmine - you can have the rest of the house, but the garage is mine" and she said "You can have it!".  So far so good!

 17.) Matt can you tell our readers what all the jobs are that you do for Strangeling and how many hours a day you put in to do it?

 A: If I told you, you wouldn't believe me!  We get up at 6:30am and we work often straight through until midnight.  We do not take off evenings and weekends.  Instead we wait until we can schedule a few days off in a row and then we flee the country, lol.  Really - we'll work maybe 30 or 40 days in a row, long 18-hour days and then we'll take off three days and go to the Bahamas or something.  Usually we'll try to combine it with museum trips, art shows, conventions, etc.   That's one of the bad things about having an online store/gallery - it is open 24/7 all over the world so it is a constant stream of work, with no closing time.  My primary duties involve processing orders, creating the printing lists and fulfilling them - we have half a dozen printers that run constantly (in what was supposed to be a dining room once).  I pack them up and ship them - usually I do that from when I get up until I get it all to the Post Office around 4pm before it closes.  Then it's time for me to attack emails, get the orders together and the prints lined up for the next day's shipping.  I also do a lot of work for when we do art shows & conventions, getting all the stock together, packing up the trailer, carrying boxes, keeping inventory of everything in storage, etc.  I do all of the ordering of ink, buying supplies, running all over town, packing materials, etc.  Jasmine doesn't drive so it's something involving a car, you can bet I'm doing it!  On top of this I do all the housecleaning, dishes, laundry, etc.  I also do all the yardwork and household stuff like that.  Jasmine however cooks (and loves it, she is the best vegetarian chef you'll ever meet.  I think she's as good of a cook as she is an artist!), which I am thankful for.  And then of course I frame Jasmine's stuff - both popping things into readymade or restored frames, wiring and adding hangers, etc.  And then comes my personal woodworking/Jasmine frames that I actually enjoy doing. 

 18.) I want to ask your view on how you feel about the Earth and our Environment too Matt.  What effect do you feel it has on our children and animals?

 A: That's a big part of what I think about when I think about the future.  I'm a big animal and nature lover and am a member of many environmental and animal groups.  I'm vegetarian as well and feel that is an important contribution to environmental as well as personal well-being.  Many people aren't aware of it, but believe it or not there are a lot of big environmental issues involved with the woodworking industry.  Everything from unsavoury logging practices to illegal importation of endangered woods.  It is true that many exotic woods can be beautiful, but many are also critically endangered or their harvesting issues have a negative impact on the indigenous peoples of their lands of origin.  Because of this I am always careful to work only with woods that are environmentally selected, and I focus on locally grown woods that are ethically harvested.

 19.) I usually ask every interview person what their dream is.  I did not ask Jasmine hers because I figured she is kinda living it so what is your dream Matt?

 A: I'd love to have more freetime to spend with Jasmine.  I feel sometimes that all we do is work.  At least we are working together, and I do enjoy some of it, but we work too hard and Jasmine's kind of crazy.  I want more of the boring stuff to be done by other people or something so that I can just spend my time doing the parts of the job I love, and the rest of the time having just some nice enjoyable time with my wife - not having to constantly worry about printer ink or  filling orders or shpping boxes or tracking supplies or answering emails, lol.  It sounds simpler than it is.

20.) If you had just one place to go in the world to work for 2 weeks and had all your things there where would that be and why?

A: BoraBora, in a little overseas hut.  It is so beautiful and I'd be just one step away from paradise, the ocean, and no distractions.

Thanks so much for your wonderful time Matt.  I really love your work and feel in my opinion that your work is really top of the line and you could go far.  You are a great asset to Strangeling and wish we all could have someone like you in our studios! 

Cindy of PAJD LLC

www.strangeling.com