[Garth Herrick]

Dear Michele and Marvin, thanks so much!

Michele: Mark Palermo is the frame maker. He works just two blocks from me here in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. He does everything himself to the highest standards, from scratch, and to any custom specification. He mills the frame moulding profile, gessoes it, applies the red or yellow clay bole ground which then gets polished to a mirror finish, and finally water gilds the frame with the artist's choice of gold leaf (genuine). The subtle "bamboo" effect is due to the necessity of slightly overlapping each sheet of gold, and this is how one can tell a real gold frame from an imitation. A frame of this size and finish may run about $1,000.00, which I think is quite reasonable, all things considered. This frame uses Moon Gold which is somewhat more silvery in color than 23 karat gold. Mark Palermo is very highly regarded in his field here in Philadelphia. His studio can be reached at 215 848-7887.

I did not get a good look at the label at the bottom of the frame; it is something the portrait committee acquired and applied themselves. They did ask me at one point where to get such a label but I did not know, but evidently they solved their problem on their own.

Marvin: Thanks for the good wishes. One never knows if this might lead to another portrait or not, but word of mouth seems to be the best system of advertisement going. I wish you many commissions to come, too.

Garth