John O'Sullivan, owner of Art & Frame of Danbury, said he thinks there are a lot of good artists in the area, but not many locations for them to display their creations.

"Most artists in this area are limited to showing their artworks at coffeehouses and libraries," said O'Sullivan, 40. "I want to use this store as a place to showcase their work." Muslim Art Painting

Every six weeks, the business displays and sells pieces created by a different artist. For example, now through Sept. 28, Newtown artist Ruth Newquist's watercolor and oil paintings of New York and Connecticut scenes are on display.

The 2,300-square-foot shop opened in January at 60 Newtown Road. It was previously called Artworks Inc. and had been in a different Newtown Road shopping center since 1979.

O'Sullivan was very familiar with the store's former location since he worked there -- on and off -- from age 15. He moved up from picture framer to manager, and when the store's former owner retired, he stepped into that role.

Aside from paintings and posters, "I've framed sculptures, rugs, wedding dresses and footballs. I have also framed a guitar pick and a Roman coin from 400 A.D.," O'Sullivan said.

Custom-made frames range from $5 to $170 a foot. The shop also cleans and restores frames, and installs lighting and sound bites in frames.

O'Sullivan, who lives in Newtown, especially enjoys his field of work since he is a painter and a sculptor himself.

He received a bachelor of fine arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

Danbury resident Bob Tilzer has been his customer for 15 years. O'Sullivan has custom-framed all of Tilzer's rock `n' roll memorabilia, including a Jerry Garcia lithograph, an Al Hirschfeld portrait, drumsticks and a drum head.

"You can go anywhere to get something framed, but when it's memorabilia that has special memories associated with it, you want to take it to the best," Tilzer said. "John is able to get an idea of what you have in mind and take it to the next level."

Buddha Paintings Art and Frame of Danbury is at 60 Newtown Road. For more information, call 203-748-0197 or visit www.artandframeofdanbury.com.