The Framer
WORDS TALIA WALDEGRAVE PHOTOS TRACIE HEASMAN
Ten years ago, Danny Redwood was admitted to hospital on a Friday afternoon and told “If you are alive on Monday, we’ll start chemo.”
Before that cheery conversation, Danny had been working on his family’s farm, and ignoring the signs that his body was finding the relentless, menial toil, tough. He was neglecting creativity and became very, very sick. “I was working harder, not smarter, and had become increasingly run down for months. When I couldn't lift my arms above my head, I knew something was seriously wrong.
It was his mother Barbara who eventually encouraged him to go to the doctor. Barbara recalls “Looking at Danny next to his brother, his skin looked a ghostly grey. I had to plead with him to see someone.”
Danny says “My blood cells were completely out of whack and although I had been given the all clear for cancer a couple of weeks earlier, in a short space of time. I’d developed the early signs of acute lymphoblastic cancer, an incredibly rare form of leukemia in adults.”
“I needed a bone marrow transplant. Thankfully, my brother James was a perfect match. He is my only blood sibling so the odds of him being a match were pretty slim. In fact, I met someone else in the same boat as me - he had eight siblings - and none were a match.”
“The recovery was brutally intense but as soon as I was strong enough, I picked up a paintbrush. I now know everyone needs to have a creative outlet. It’s so important for our mental health.”
Ten years on, and an herculean recovery later, I meet Danny at work, Artisan Framing and Plaques, in the Chapel Street shopping centre in Tauranga.
"I love being an artist, but it's not always sustainable financially, so I wanted to do something that incorporated what I love to make a living. Being an artist puts me in a great position as a framer."
"I bought this business because it had a great, long-standing reputation. I then moved into this space because I wanted to have room to exhibit work from local artists. We’ve got so many great artists in Tauranga, but we are limited as to where they can showcase that work."
Looking around, there are stacks of pieces - paintings, prints and photographs, each waiting for the right casing to bind them and make them wall-ready. Danny boasts some of the best machinery in town, including an ancient looking guillotine; apparently it’s one of a kind.
Being someone who loves and appreciates art, Danny uses the very best stock, top quality fastenings and mountings for all his frames. “My machinery enables me to provide conservation framing. It’s a very high level of framing, which displays an artist’s work in the best way possible, lasts longer and galleries will far more seriously. It’s also about preserving family memories and making them shine in just the right way.”
It’s clear Danny’s experience has given him a mental calmness and clarity which extends to his work, giving life to the many beautiful prints and paintings he is tasked with preserving.