New business locale is picture perfect
WOONSOCKET — After moving around a bit, C. Marc Morelle has found a new home for his CMM Picture Frame and Gallery business at 1300 Park Ave. – also the home of Park Square Florists and The Honey Shop – and he and his partner, Corey Ann Laplante, will be hosting an open house with their fellow business owners there today.
Running from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the open house will include hors d’oeuvres and refreshments as well as a chance to learn more about CMM’s framing and matting techniques, according to Morelle.
“If they have any questions on how to cut a frame or make a matt, we will be able to show them how it is done,” he said.
Morelle, a resident of Cumberland, had started the framing business and gallery several years ago as a second career and set up shop in the former Le Moulin Artisan Village before the former mill was shut down for building issues.
After returning to work as a computer program developer on a contract basis, Morelle eventually decided to reopen CMM Picture Frame and Gallery at Park Square Florists. After determining that its initial space on the main floor of the florist property was more than he needed, Morelle moved to the business’ current location in the front lower level of the commercial property.
Morelle brought Laplante, his partner, in to run the business with him and said she has done an excellent job offering new ideas.
“She does great design work and she knows how to pick a good matt and frame combination that really complements the things that we are trying to frame,” he said.
Best of all, Morelle said Laplante “is much more organized than me,” another asset for the business.
CMM builds frames by cutting lengths of framing materials and them assembling as a custom fit. The business also does custom matting and cuts glass to finish the works.
The business can frame just about anything, and can take on custom art prints, personal artwork or photographs and documents.
He has shop printers for digital work and a large format Epson 9600 printer for producing prints 46 inches in width if needed.
CMM can also print directly to canvas for an item with a stretched canvas look and feel.
Morelle recently took a series of photo- graphs taken when his son Christopher and daughter-in-law Dawn took their children for a ride on the Polar Express with friends and made it into a framed memento poster.
The final product will be a nice gift for the family for the holidays.
Morelle also gets requests to fix old photographs before framing them and he can do that through graphic computer programs at the shop.
The business also offers art works for sale, including original paintings Morelle has done himself, and prints and original works from other artists.
He sells prints by both Karl Doerflinger and Maxwell Mays, as well as prints made up from his own most popular paintings like one of the Woodstock Inn in Woodstock, New Hampshire.
The gallery also features original photo art by Stephanie Izzo and pottery works by Colby Charpentier.
Running a small business isn’t easy but Morelle said he and Laplante like the challenge nonetheless.
“It’s a lot of work but we are having fun doing it,” he said.
CMM Picture Frame and Gallery is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The shop is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Morelle said he can also be reached at 401-487-8938 to arrange a visit on Sundays.