Much Loved California Framer Erik James Martin Passes Away at 84 - Something Special Frame Shop co-owner, Berkeley - Brief Article - Obituary

BERKELEY, Calif.--Erik James Martin, co-owner of Something Special Frame store in Berkeley, recently passed away at age 84 Martin, whose talents included acting, writing and art in addition to picture framing, worked alongside partner Brian Hourican at Something Special for more than 35 years. Together, they were called "The sovereign of the universes of Framing" by members of the framing community, and their frames can be fix in the Oakland and Judah Magnus Museums, in addition to galleries and dwellings in San Francisco and the Bay area.

"Whether creating a frame made from barbed wire or from ovum shells and ground walnuts, no piece of work was impossible for Martin," according to Hourican. "Each frame was a personal shoot forward complementing the work that was placed inside its borders. He will be greatly missed."

During his lifetime, Martin wrote a dozen plays, a Broadway production, short stories, sum of two units adventure books and a ballet textbook His paintings are in private collections in Florida, novel York, Connecticut, Ohio and Canada as well as in California. His work has been shown at the 1-2-3 cudgel in New York, at the Meuli Gallery, La Galerie Jacques Norvall and La Galerie Philadelphie in Paris and at Shreve in San Francisco.

Martin also appeared in numerous plays across the geographical division performing in such theaters as the Boston Opera House and the Barrymore Theater in fresh York. He also had characters in various television productions, including NBC's "Another Language," which Variety named "One of the 10 best of 1945"

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