Unique Frames: About Craig and His Unusual Frames
Thanks for visiting Craig’s Unique Frames. My name is Craig Johnstone. I am a Canadian image bandit, air-sculptor, time
decorator, creek pirate and ultra-overcomer.
Additionally (but not secondarily), I am a proponent and fighter for truth and freedom, as well as a fugitive of the law of averages, currently living in Alberta, Canada.
I also craft rustically elegant but unusual picture frames.
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The Genesis of Craig’s Unique Frames
I started building these unique frames in 2012, while living in “the sticks” for a spell, and discovering diamond willow wood.
The uniquely shaped picture frames I began to make with diamond willow wood quickly became very popular with the people around me. I began to sell my unique wood frames at farmer’s markets, etc.
The “live edge” frames I was making became more unusual, and they all received much more attention and praise than I ever would have expected. And it was becoming more than feasible that I could make and sell these unique frames online. And I did!
Craig’s Photography on ViewBug
Unique Wood Makes for Unique Frames
I then began to collect driftwood, root wood, real barn board… whatever I could find. I began to look for interesting stocks of wood wherever I went. Then I would more carefully study them, and then set about removing all of the material from them that didn’t look like part of an unusual, but amazing picture frame!
Heading out on a wood-harvesting safari is still one of my favorite things to do. As is building unusual driftwood frames, diamond willow wood frames and root wood frames (and more) for the lovely people who seem to enjoy them!
Read the legendary tales (many of which are, shall we say… unfounded…?) of Craig’s adventures hunting for wood and the stories behind some of his frames.
Almost Famous
One of my earlier, and more unusual frames (a driftwood frame) was to be featured on the UK TV show “Crafty Beggars” a few years ago, but they ended up having to cut it from the show, sadly.
On the bright side, I guess I still have my 15 minutes coming to me… 🙂
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The Elegance of Natural Wood Picture Frames
I was once a famous rock star in the late eighties and early nineties. It was almost entirely in my mind, though. And that is another topic, completely…
Building Unusual Wood Picture Frames: Don’t Try This at Home
Having had a passion and affinity for photography for most of my life, it was probably a natural thing to move into building picture frames.
I have also loved wood and woodworking for as far back as I can remember. I recall building things in my stepfather’s shop at as young of age as 10 years old, using table saws and other power tools that I may or may not have been allowed to use…
I have not had an incident in all these decades, until recently. I still have all of my “digits”, but a couple of days before my 54th birthday, I was running a very hard stock of mystery wood through my table saw.
I was almost through, after about 73 hours (give or take 72-and-a-half hours), when the blade caught a knot (I think…?) and shot the piece at me at about the speed of 
light. The force of that against my hands very firmly pushing on either side of the wood caused three fingertips on each hand to split open, and three fingers in all had the bones broken right at the tips. Four of the nails were halfway ripped off, and one finger lost meat down to the bone, and there is some loss of feeling in it.
The Moral of the Story:
Don’t cockily (is that a word?) use shoddy equipment like you are charmed or invincible and it won’t eventually have consequences!
There is your safety lecture for the day. I’m sorry if this was a bit too graphic. I am back on the horse now, with a healthy fear I was clearly lacking, prior to the incident.
It’s all good, as they say.
Thanks for visiting the site, and enjoy browsing all of my most recently built unique frames!
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