A Frame-Maker’s Journal

TimHolton writingUpdates 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

A Minka for Pictures: Framing Hiroto Norikane

Posted on January 31st, 2025

I often say that what we’re offering is the simple home for pictures. The simple home ideal was practiced and advocated by Bernard Maybeck and Charles Keeler here in Berkeley, and shaped much of the city’s early architecture. I take it to express the princip... continue reading.

Highlighting Robert Flanary

Posted on January 17th, 2025

Jessie just re-hung the gallery to highlight our inventory of paintings by Robert Flanary. There are 26 paintings in all. Most are framed—those are shown on Robert’s page, here—but there’s also a large number of unframed (or ready-to-frame!) pieces. A lo... continue reading.

Framing Hall Thorpe’s “Three Wise Men”

Posted on December 24th, 2024

It’s Christmas Eve and many of you are out and about bearing gifts. So in the spirit of the day, I thought I’d post this lovely woodblock print, “Three Wise Men,” by Hall Thorpe (Australian, 1874-1947). At just about 5-1/4″ square, it’... continue reading.

Richard Lindenberg’s Window on Beloved Mt. Tamalpais

Posted on December 17th, 2024

Just makin up poems in my head as I climb toward Mount Tamalpais.See up there, as beautiful a mountain as you’ll see anywhere in the world,a beautiful shape to it, I really love Tamalpais. —The character Japhy in The Dharma Bums (1958), by Jack Kerouac Jack Kerouac ... continue reading.

Colorful Samples for a Colorful Season

Posted on December 7th, 2024

Here are a few recent and particularly seasonal carved and painted corner samples I made. The middle one’s soft maple and the other two are walnut. All have simple carving and are painted with linseed oil paint. By the way, there’s still time for us to fill ... continue reading.

About Line: Framing Paul Jacoulet

Posted on November 26th, 2024

When designing a frame, I ask myself, what is this picture about? I mean in terms of artistic elements such as color, form, line, and pattern that the frame can honor and enhance. With this 1940 woodblock print, “Chagrin D’Amour: Kusai, Est Carolines,” (15... continue reading.

Framing Erik Tiemens for Beloved California IX

Posted on November 24th, 2024

Marin County painter Erik Tiemens has taken part in every one of our annual Beloved California exhibits. We’ve mostly shown his oil paintings. But this year, for Beloved California IX, three of his four pieces are watercolor and gouache. “A Landscape from Me... continue reading.

Framing a Magical Pastel by Kim Lordier for Beloved California IX

Posted on November 21st, 2024

Since the early days of the Monterey Peninsula artists’ colony, a certain mystical quality has lured painters to the area. Artists like Charles Rollo Peters accentuated that quality by painting the Peninsula in the moonlight. Kim Lordier‘s pastel “Poin... continue reading.