Employee Owner Spotlight: Mary Helen O’Brien

Employee owner name: Mary Helen O’Brien

Department/Job at Work: Woodshop – Gilding

Number of years working at Bark: 13 years

Hails from: Long Island, NY

What did you for work do before you worked at Bark Frameworks?

I originally learned gilding from my brother. He got interested in the decorative arts after doing an old home restoration.  He taught himself a lot through books and self-education; then he took classes via the Society of Gilders. He eventually started gilding as his job; I worked with him when his business started getting busy.

Prior to that, I had been in the crafts and costume studio at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC.  For various reasons, I decided not to stay in theater work.  But my experience at this highly regarded regional theater really taught me to set a high standard of work, which carried over to my gilding work.

On a trip through New York City, I saw an opportunity to work at a very high end antique frame restoration company.  The work my brother and I did in our business gave me the skills to accept an offer from that company.

What is the biggest challenge in your area of work at Bark?

The work itself is difficult; and it takes a lot of time. The process is not fast – it’s a centuries-old craft, with very little change to the process.  We do water gilding, which is more time-consuming, but also the most beautiful. Oil or synthetic gilding is faster and quicker to learn.

Gilding for contemporary frames is especially challenging because of the clean, open surfaces that really show off the gold leaf gilding. In an antique frame, there are places to kind of “hide” flaws if they occur and there’s more going on – more ornamentation through carving, etched designs etc.  More attention has to go into the prep and surfacing (gesso and clay) on a modern frame design, as well as the gold leafing.  Any flaw or mistake can unwind the entire finish.  As this is the nature of ‘hand’ work, it makes for challenging work.

What do you like best about working at Bark?

What attracted me to Bark was the level of work – there is a high standard of work being produced. I like the staff that attracts, too! All the staff here are self-motivating; they set the standard for themselves (there’s not someone forcing them to adhere to a standard). The people here want to do good work; and they strive to do what they’re asked to by the clients and designers. I feel fortunate to work in that kind of environment here at Bark, as well as in my past craft shops.

Name a particularly memorable framing job you worked on:

When we reframed for the Whitney Museum’s opening of their new location.  Many of the staff were involved in making samples for the museum.  The Museum also invited Bark staff to their private opening of the new building. We gilded an O’Keeffe, a Pelton, a Sheeler, and liners for some of the Hopper paintings.

Gilding did over one hundred frames for Richard Avedon’s “Women” show, at the same time as a large number of frames for various Tiffany & Co. stores.  Super busy period, but fun as we brought in other gilders we had worked with in the past (including my brother!) to help us.  We also cross-trained the talented Bark staff.

A Whitney Museum-goer admires “Music, Pink and Blue, No. 2” (1918) by Georgia O’Keeffe. The 12kt white gold frame is by Bark Frameworks.

How has your life in- and outside of work changed as a result of the recent pandemic?

Well, for everybody, it was a terrible time. In the east village, where I lived back then, it was too crowded to walk on the streets. So I just got on my bike and rode through the city – it was completely empty. A little depressing, but there was no traffic! So a great time to explore the city.  You saw both the good and the bad.

What does being an employee owner mean to you?

I feel like we’re still defining that, as a group. What do we want it to be? As the staff is very self-motivated, there didn’t seem to be a big impact.

Are you an artist?

I’m not a practicing artist – though I was growing up. I did art at a young age, and I played music for years when I was younger – I played violin, a bit of piano, and was a member of a youth orchestra.  As time went on, I just never felt like I had time for music and art.  I became very active in the outdoors – hiking, biking, birding. Those things became more important.  When one works in the arts, there’s a certain instability, especially for housing.  Also, I moved around to different cities, so best not to accumulate too much, like art materials.

Any outside hobbies/interests you have when you’re not making frames?

Being inside all day making frames, I want to be outside as much as possible when not at Bark. So I bike a lot and run.  And I do birding and plant identification.  I’ve seen some wild flowers and thought, “wow, that’s where some artists got their inspiration from!” I find it’s a good way to train the eye, “what do you see?”

Thank you, Mary Helen!