Been framing for 68 years! Anyone beat this ?

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Keith Hewitt
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Been framing for 68 years! Anyone beat this ?

Post by Keith Hewitt »

I was chatting with Andreas Shiatis in Cyprus recently and asked him how long have you been framing.
68 years was his answer ....got me thinking, Is there a story here for Art & Framing Today, and also on here of course :giggle:

Born July 9th 1940 he started when he was 12. His father George said after school you come to the workshop and help me, before you get any tea.
That was in 1952
His father grew from a frame shop into the leading distributor in Cyprus, today called George Shiatis & Son based in Nicosia
A few on this forum know him quite well as he became the distributor for many well known brands, Magnolia Morso, Colourmount etc.
He is quite a character - always chuckling and so friendly.
He tells of the 1974 invasion, by the Turkish army and how he had to bribe the soldiers to leave him alone whilst he removed as much as he could before his premises were left marooned in what today is Northern Cyprus or more correctly known as TNRC.( Turkish Republic Northern Cyprus)

Dare I relate that about 20 years ago I visited Cyprus and went through the NATO controlled check point to visit a customer in Northern Cyprus.
The following day I was with Andreas and after a great dinner he took me to a place where you could climb some wooden stairs and look down into a deserted road on Turkish side. Andreas gave me a short history lesson and then said " Dont you ever go to the Turkish side. If you do I will never buy from you ever again"
Of course I promise him never to go. :lol: And I haven't.

So my question is :-
Is 68 years framing a story ?
What questions would you like me to ask him?
Guess one is what changes have influenced you most. He is not tech savvy , but very street wise - No website, No Facebook, but i see has 8 connections on LinkedIn, including Tony Gallagher.
He has attended every Bologna show from when they started.
Keith Hewitt
I have visited distributors and framers in 90 countries - no two are the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XtrrWooYdg
Giraffe138
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Re: Been framing for 68 years! Anyone beat this ?

Post by Giraffe138 »

Great post, Keith! I first visited Andreas at G.Shiatis & Son in November of 1985, whilst returning from visiting framers in the Arabian Gulf whilst working for Magnolia Mouldings International. Andreas was our agent/distributor and I would tour the island with him visiting small frame shops taking orders for mouldings, framing equipment , mountboard, accessories etc.I recall one particular year I sold £60k worth of 0178G (small coloured cushion) to the island's framers during the poster boom!
The Shiatis workshop in old Nicosia had changed little since the Turkish invasion and Andreas' father, George was still working away into his nineties. Andreas' mother used to appear with homemade cake and fruits.
I've lost count of the number of visits I made to the island, but had many happy times there and hope to revisit when and if things return to normal.
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