A Frame-Maker’s Journal
Updates and reflections on our work and mission to revive the art and craft of framing pictures. Here I'll show you new jobs we're especially proud of and keep you up on what's going on at the Gallery, as well as discuss topics germane to our work, including handcraft and work generally, the place of art, and ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement (especially its greatest leaders, John Ruskin and William Morris).
I hope you’ll subscribe (see the form in the left column) or at least check back often. And I welcome your comments!
—Tim Holton
Framing David Goines’s Last Poster for International House
Recently, we’ve been framing many a poster by the late David Lance Goines. This one, made in 2020, was the last of three that Goines made for International House at UC Berkeley. (The first, commemorating I-House’s 50th anniversary, is shown at right. Read about that here.) All three posters featured doves, expressing the great hope […]
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Completing the Window: A Triptych Frame for Paul Kratter
On Saturday afternoon, I’ll be giving a presentation here at the Gallery called “Completing the Window: A Frame Maker’s Approach to Framing Landscape Paintings.” Starting with last Saturday’s post I’m posting a few examples of that approach. Here’s a t... continue reading.
Completing the Window: Framing Carl Redin
This Saturday I’ll be giving a presentation here at the Gallery called “Completing the Window: A Frame Maker’s Approach to Framing Landscape Paintings.” Starting with last Saturday’s post I’m posting a few examples of that approach. This is a small u... continue reading.
A Carved Oak Frame for Harry Curieux Adamson
Next Saturday, August 22, at 2:00 I’ll be giving a presentation here at the Gallery called “Completing the Window: A Frame Maker’s Approach to Framing Landscape Paintings.” This coming week I’ll post a few examples of that approach. This 28... continue reading.
Completing the Window: A Lecture
On Saturday afternoon, August 22, I’ll be giving a talk titled “Completing the Window: A Frame Maker’s Approach to Framing Landscape Paintings.” It’s a truism that a frame should complement the picture that’s in it. But what does that... continue reading.
Amidst Poppies: Framing Arthur Mathews
Arthur Frank Mathews (1860-1945) was California’s premiere muralist and a leading teacher in the state. He was also a great advocate for Arts and Crafts ideals—which led him directly to an appreciation for the significance of the architecture of the frame and its wo... continue reading.
Chickens On a Ladder: Framing to Elevate Ordinary Things
Depictions of architecture, cabinetry, furniture and other things made of wood are always possible cues for the wooden structure that is a frame. Such constructions are themselves, after all, essentially frames of one kind or another. A wooden ladder is another kind of ... continue reading.
A Joiner’s Art: Frame Making as Woodworking—Part IV
Part IV of my six-part series “A Joiner’s Art: Frame Making as Woodworking” for Picture Framing Magazine has come out. The first installment, published last May, introduced the topic with some history and an overview (read Part I, probably the most interesting one... continue reading.
A Joiner’s Art: Frame Making as Woodworking—Part III
Picture Framing Magazine has just published Part III of what will be a six-part series I’m writing for them called “A Joiner’s Art: Frame Making as Woodworking.” The first installment, which came out in May, introduced the topic with some history and an over... continue reading.