While many watercolor artists find the most joy in creating pieces of artwork from brush strokes, that wasn’t the case for Greg Ogden. His greatest happiness was in the building of the frames that went around them. In fact, he loved it so much, he found himself painting more just to have more artwork to frame.
That was back in the 80s. After working for and being the vice president of a well-known California printing and framing business for over 30 years, he and his wife, Kathy, decided to move to Tennessee and open their own shop. Ogden Editions, first founded
in Brentwood in 2020, has now moved to a much bigger location in Columbia. “We want to build our retail business, but we also want to stay intimate,” says Kathy. “Plus, we have heavy-duty quality control. If we see a little imperfection, it's fixed, and we don’t skimp on any of the materials we use.”
Greg now focuses on fine art printing, recreating original works into incredible reproductions using state-of-the-art technology, while Kathy, an artist herself, is the talented frame designer. While many people focus, of course, on the colors and imagery of a painting, having the right frame showcasing it enhances the beauty of the piece and makes a statement of its own.
Although the shop is local, its clientele includes people from all over the country and even the world. “My husband knows color,” she says. “He’s a master printer and a perfectionist and artists appreciate that. And, since we ship all over the world, we don't have to be where the artists are, which is cool for them.” Kathy’s brother-in-law, Bobby Kranc, builds custom crates for each piece of art before they’re shipped out.
The couple also really enjoys helping new artists. “We teach them how to manage their business and get started the right way,” says Kathy. “We will even do it for them if they want us to so they can just be artists and not business people. But we can teach them things like how to take care of their editions because artists have different ones including limited edition prints and the all-important originals. They should never let go of an original without capturing it because they might want to make those into reproductions later on.”
The shop will create a file for them and show them how to keep track of numbers since each edition is signed and numbered, unless it's an open edition, which Kathy says not many fine art artists do anymore. “We've helped so many artists and it makes us feel good,” she says. “So what we really specialize in is giving artists peace of mind.”
Right now, they’re busy assisting a new artist by the name of Emily Bagan. “When she first came to us, she was very new to the industry, but now she is doing album covers for bands like Greta Van Fleet.”
Ogden Editions also does prints for many professional photographers including Tracie Spence and Chris Egan. While they do a lot of work for many well-known people, they also welcome local walk-ins who may just have a special piece of art they want custom framed.
The Spring Hill couple, who relocated to Tennessee in 2019, are so happy they made the move – both in their professional and personal lives. “Neither one of us had been to Tennessee before, but a good friend had grown up here, so I knew from her how pretty it was,” says Kathy. “And, everybody is so friendly. It’s a great place to live and own a business.” OgdenEditions.com
