The "Football Memories From Grebinger Gallery" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Putting the final touches on one of the neatest jobs I have done for some time at Grebinger Gallery in Neffsville, Pennsylvania where I work party-time for a former student I had at Mannheim Township High School.  In 2017 the Manheim Township High School varsity football team won their first ever District Championship.  One of the coaches of the team thought it would be nice to have a special momento of the special season they had in 2017.  So, he brought a variety of items to the gallery to have them framed.  The District 3 gold medal, the District 3 championship ring, pictures of the team when they started as freshmen, a piece of the old artificial turf field they played on and a variety of photos of players, parents and and friends of the team.  Keith, the owner worked with him to create a design for the framed piece of artwork.  The final idea was placed on the computerized mat cutter and a sample mat was cut to see how everything would look.  It was at this point that I began my part of the job.  The double mat was to be 32"x40" in size and cut from blue suede with a white secondary mat (team colors).  I cut the mat and began to design how deep the mat had to be to accommodate the ring.  I needed at least 2" in depth for the ring to fit, so the black frame was ordered with a 2" height.  The rest of the explanation will be easier to understand if you can see a visual explanation.  Follow along with the photos to see the final result.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The mat cutter can be seen on the right.  The design fills the screen.  The mat cutter automatically cuts the mat based on the design placed on the screen.

The top blue suede mat shows the size of each compartment that will hold photos, the ring, the medal and the piece of turf.  The turf was designed to fit behind the word coach as seen in this photo.

This piece of turf had to be cut down to fit behind the word "Coach".  It was so tough that I had to use a power saw to cut it.  The only problem we had was the little black pieces of rubber that are packed in the turf to cushion falls.  These pieces fell out everywhere and made it tough to keep the rubber from falling into the frame.

The medal was hot-glued onto a piece of blue suede to be placed behind the window on the main mat.  The ribbon was stapled out of the way.  The staples can be removed without damage and the glue can be removed without any marks on the medal if the unit would be taken apart in the future.

The ring was the biggest problem.  I had to cut a small rectangle through the mat and underlying foam boards so the ring's finger band would fit into it.  To keep it in place I cut a wooden wedge that I placed inside the rung under the blue suede mat board.

This is the rear of the job.  No one will see this since there is a dust cover on the back of the job which covers the wedge. I hot-glued the wood to the back of the board.

This shows the medal, turf and ring in place.

I placed the mats over the job to see how it will look.  Here you can see what the medal looks like under the top mat.

All the photos had to be placed in position on a piece of foam board that has a coating of dry mount on it.   It is then place in the dry mounting press so the heat can activate the glue and hold the photos in place.  This job was so large I had to move the board around and do the photos as different units. 

The finished job sits behind the frame which has a piece of Conservation glass in place.  This glass will protect the job from UV waves and will stop glare and reflections.

I forgot to take a photo of the job after I had placed the mat inside the frame and had fastened it with pins.  This photo shows the paper dust cover in place to keep dust and insects out.  I then placed "Wall-Buddies" in the top corners to hold the piece on the wall.  The project weighed closed to 40 pounds so it needs extra support to hold it to the wall, thus the Wall-Buddies".

I am holding the final result so Keith can take photos of it.

Project turned out great.  Memories to share for a lifetime.
Done at Grebinger Gallery in Neffsville, PA.