34 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY NOVEMBER 9-15, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com FACE TO FACE Chicago has Lake Michigan, Lake Shore Drive, some fine museums and the Miracle Mile. By comparison, the wild coastline of Big Sur is, well, “magic.” That’s how Cathy Jaeger describes her first encounter with Monterey County, visiting from her native Chicago after a friend moved to the West Coast. Jaeger fell in love with the area and moved here in 1974 before having work lined up. And for a time, it was a struggle. “I could not find the most menial job,” she recalls. “I couldn’t find a place to live because I didn’t have a job.” Eventually, Jaeger found work at Big Sur icons Deetjen’s Restaurant and Nepenthe before she ran into a custom frame shop owner who was looking for help. While she studies guitar and photography, these are hobbies. Almost 35 years later, Jaeger is still toiling over mat boards and diagonal cuts as owner of Jaeger Custom Frames in Monterey. Weekly: So you happened to meet a custom framer. That was the start? Jaeger: After I left Nepenthe, I was working with a construction company in an office doing computer work. I needed more work and I thought, “How hard could it be?” And how hard is it? I tell people it’s not brain surgery, but you have to be patient. There’s a skillset and specialized tools. There are a lot of skills that you wouldn’t think about otherwise. You have to know your fractions. You have to get used to the materials, the tools, the meticulousness. If I’m any good at this at all, it’s because I’ve made every mistake possible—although I’m glad I never ruined someone’s artwork. You want to send a product out the door that’s pristine. I want to enhance the artwork. Which I assume means you have to understand art and color. We all grow up with art and color. One of the things I remember from a mentor is that you’ll know the right frame design when your eyes rest on the artwork. Do you consider yourself an artist? People say that. C’mon—no. It’s something I’ve worked at and I’ve achieved a level of expertise. But I’m always learning. I don’t think of myself as an artist. I can learn what’s complementary. I have simple tastes, myself. How about your own decor? My house—people use the word eclectic. I have pictures of my parents, pictures of my son. I have a signed poster of the Indigo Girls, a cyanotype I made, artwork. It’s mostly stuff that has been given to me or of my loved ones. All nicely framed? As a matter of fact, they are. What has kept you doing this? You have to be careful what you do. Sometimes, if you do it long enough, you become good. It is the thing I did the best. It was what I did to stay in Big Sur and it was what I did when my son wanted to go to college, but I enjoy the work—working with my hands, working with tools. It appeals to me. There are a lot of framing options here. How do you narrow it down? There are a lot of choices when you walk into the shop. I ask people a few questions. Sometimes they bring pictures of where it’s going to go. Sometimes they have no idea. But I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I have an idea. That’s the starting point. Once they put it with their artwork, most people can tell if it looks good or not. It’s a job we do together, because there are so many ways to go and you want them to like it. What is the strangest thing you’ve framed? I don’t even want to tell you. If I had to do it all over again, I’d say no. That’s one of the best things about being self-employed: you can say no. It’s a quirky business. It’s so subjective what people are attracted to. I draw the line at pornography. Is there anything that shouldn’t be framed? Probably not [laughs]. There are things I don’t want to frame. But I’m always honored when people bring their stuff to me. You’re framing things that are important to people. You can go online for anything now. What’s the future of frame shops? How long are people going to be making art? I remember going to a framing convention where one of the old wise men said he didn’t think millennials would spend money on framing. But it has endured. Everybody has something they need framed. I’m hoping that it will last at least another five years [laughs]. Jaeger Custom Frames is at 1193 10th St., Monterey. 915-5859. Frame Up Cathy Jaeger’s work hangs on a lot of walls, but don’t call her an artist. By Dave Faries Cathy Jaeger’s custom frame shop offers hundreds of molding options, from simple and unobtrusive to ornate. She works with clients to figure out what best complements the artwork. DANIEL DREIFUSS Breakthrough Men’s Community is a nonprofit organization founded in 1987 to teach men the skills to free themselves from nonproductive, painful, or unworkable patterns in their lives. Life Tools For Men Help us make Breakthrough available to every man - please contribute at www.breakthroughformen.org Better Dads, Better Partners, Better Friends In-person workshops starting January & February in Monterey & Santa Cruz Come to a free introductory meeting www.breakthroughformen.org
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