How We Started Jeffs Art & Deco

My name is Jeff. I am a frame maker and an avid heritage photographer. It all started back in the 70’s when I took an interest into photography and then ventured into making photo frames and opened Jeff’s Workshop.

Back then epoxy was popular as a protective sealant to preserve framed photographs. With the growth in demand I had a rented 1st floor shop house right in the heart of old Georgetown which then was not yet declared as a heritage site. As business grew I had to move to a double-storey shop, also in the city vicinity. Business was blooming everywhere and new offices and houses mushroomed, and this was where the demand came from. I had to move again, to a nearby double storey shop house again. After a few years I had no other option but to buy my own property and this is where I am now rooted - 44 Kinta Lane, at the fringe of the Heritage Site of George Town and a stone throw from the iconic Komtar building, the tallest in the city. We also changed our name to JEFFS ART & DECO.

The turn of the century saw the city declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Suddenly with the news, a new cultural wave swept the island and preservation was the daily conversation topic. This created a new awareness amongst the present young generation, who had inherited a vast heirloom and the need to preserve and display them in their modern offices and condominiums instead of locking them in cabinets. Items like cutlery, pots, old floor tiles, carvings and whatever were there became a framing item.

So here we are tending to this need and helping in the process of preservation though indirect but yet Jeffs Art & Deco has played an important role in it.