Our criteria for listing any of the companies below is that (1) we have had reasonable experiences in shopping there as a consumer, or (2) we've heard through the grapevine that they're okay. The Framer’s Loft has no financial relationship with any of these companies. We cannot guarantee that any of these may necessarily have either the best price or the best service.
Except for mat board (primarily Crescent and Bainbridge), The Framer’s Loft carries no art supplies. It appears that our two favorite stores in the area, Foster Graphics in Nashua and E. W. Poore in Manchester, are no longer in business. At this time we are no longer in a position to be able to recommend anyone locally. You may be able to find what you are looking for in the Yellow Pages under "Craft Supplies".
We have had no dealings with these guys, but if you can't find what you want locally, you might try
Daniel Smith Fine Artists' Materials
or you might just try searching for "Art Supplies" on your favorite search engine; there are lots of sites on the 'net.
In Salem and Nashua, Prints Plus has a pretty good selection of open edition prints and posters. Their web site is user friendly and can give you directions to their stores. They also offer picture framing … sort of. But once you've seen their framing and ours, we're pretty certain you'll come to The Framer’s Loft.
If you're looking for a specific limited edition print either on the primary or secondary art market, give these links a try. These sites are what any picture framer or art gallery would use, so if you can't find what you're looking for there, probably nobody can.
This company isn't too bad! They offer mail order wood and aluminum metal frames in standard sizes. In small quantities, though, the shipping costs may offset any savings you might realize if you had purchased locally.
Graphic Dimension Picture Frames
There are a bunch of low cost mat cutters on the market. This is the only one that we can recommend. But, unless you are going to cut a few dozen mats per month, by the time you amortize the cost of the mat cutter and full sheets of mat board, it may be more cost effective to have your mats cut individually at The Framer’s Loft. Do the math before you buy one.
I've never met this fellow, but I've seen his work – he's good. He cleans and restores oil paintings and/or can give estimates for repair. He works out of Lowell, Massachusetts, so he's almost local.
Peter Kostoulakos - Artist • Conservator • Consultant
Since appraisers have specialties and are required to physically examine an item, how far you'll have to travel will depend on what you're having appraised. The nearest appraiser for what you want may be in Cleveland, but as far as I can tell, this the only game in town, so to speak.
American Society of Appraisers