(Photo | Courtesy of Eastlake Framing)
Deb Spicer, owner of Eastlake Framing and oil painting restoration expert, has lived a life entrenched in art since she was very young. As young as five years old, Spicer and her sister would play “art gallery” together; a game where each sibling would present art to one another. Spicer has been inspired by the art she finds in nature, as her family home when she was growing up bordered the McKenzie River.
When Spicer was ten, her mother enrolled in a correspondence course for interior design. Inspired by her mother, Spicer would also go on to pursue interior design. However, this love of art and design became a career when Spicer began working as a photo restoration expert and, in 1992, began work in the framing department of Eastlake Art.
The framing department eventually took over the entire business, and in 1995, Spicer purchased the business for herself and renamed it Eastlake Framing. Five years later, Spicer was able to move the business to the current NW Galveston Avenue location. Over the years, Spicer and Eastlake Framing have become trusted names for framing and restoration services, earning the Distinguished Small Business of the Year Award by the Bend Chamber of Commerce.
In the early 2000s, Spicer branched out from framing and photo restoration by apprenticing under an 85-year-old oil painting restoration expert. The woman she learned from was one of the only local options for oil painting restoration, and now Spicer wears that crown. “Restoration work is at such a different pace, compared to framing,” she said. “Framing is fast-paced, where oil painting restoration is slower, more peaceful and calming. It is almost a meditative experience.”
Spicer took a moment to reflect on her success and the path she took to get here. “I’ve been self-employed since 22, and that has presented unique pros and cons,” she said. “I feel like if you always want to be the one in charge, you have a personality suited for self-employment.”
When Spicer started framing nearly 30 years ago, she found that she was treated differently when compared to male coworkers. “The hardest part about being a young woman in business was being taken seriously,” she said. “I spent years working extra hard just to be taken seriously.”
Spicer remarked that the different treatment did not come just from men, but from women as well. Over time, her hard work gained her respect from her peers, but Spicer hasn’t forgotten the hoops she had to jump through just to receive that respect. “Women especially have to show our moxi, and learn how to present ourselves well while still speaking from the heart,” she said. “We have to present ourselves in a way that garners respect that might not be given otherwise.”
Spicer’s strategy as a young woman entering a new field? Fake it till you make it. “You have to be confident and step up without fear of rejection or failure. Over the years, I realized I was no longer faking it. Once I realized I had arrived, it felt very rewarding.” Spicer also remarks that getting older has its benefits, in that she knows herself and knows how to navigate life more effectively than when she was younger.
As a successful businesswoman, designer and restoration expert, Spicer has a wealth of advice to provide to young women looking to break into a new field, or even self-employment, “I would counsel a young woman of today who is contemplating becoming self-employed to really get to know herself first,” Spicer said. “What motivates her? What does she love and have passion for? Self-employment is not for everyone. It is not as romantic as it might seem. It requires much hard work, discipline and determination. However, it also has the potential to give you more satisfaction, pride and self-worth, as well as monetary reward than she could get from working for someone else. I would also tell her she doesn’t need to be good at everything herself. She needs to gather a supportive team around her of financial and legal professionals, as well as employees who have the skills she may be missing.”
At the end of it all, Spicer is incredibly grateful for her success, hard work and professional career. “You never know what piece of art might walk through that door. It is not irregular for restoration customers to shed a tear when they receive their restored painting. Some of these pieces have significant sentimental and family value, and I love seeing people’s faces when they see that art in its original glory.”
