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 Richard Lindenberg for Beloved California VI (Opening Today!)
Our big annual all-gallery show opens today! Beloved California VI: Twenty Painters with a Passion for Place features more than 60 wonderful works by our entire roster of Northern California landscape painters. Nearly all the paintings are on view in the gallery for the... continue reading.
Framing Yoshiko Yamamoto for the Holly-days
I love the prints Yoshiko Yamamoto made as a tribute to the Overbeck sisters, Hannah (1870-1931) and Mary (1878-1955). This one, “Holly,” is based on a circa 1915 watercolor and ink drawing in the Los Angeles County Museum, shown at right. (In typical humble... continue reading.
Sill Frames—III: Framing Karima Cammell’s “Fire with Fire”
A frame is a window, and this window looks out on a burning medieval village. The frame too, then, would be burned. And so it is. I made this tabernacle frame in oak for Karima Cammell‘s 12″ x 9″ oil painting, “Fire with Fire,” then took a ... continue reading.
Sill Frames—II: Framing Karima Cammell’s “Aqua Alta”
In my last post, here, I introduced sill frames, featuring one we made for Karima Cammell‘s “Atlantis,” an impressive egg tempera painting included in our current solo show “High Water.” I pointed out how I carved the frame’s beveled ... continue reading.
Sill Frames—I: Framing Karima Cammell’s “Atlantis”
In framing Karima Cammell‘s work for her solo show “High Water” here at the Gallery (check out today’s great review in Berkeleyside), the recurring historical subject matter pushed me to explore a kind of frame construction frequently seen on med... continue reading.
Framing Andersen Kee
This is a portrait by living Navajo painter Andersen Kee. We framed the 16″ x 13″ oil on board in a 3″ wide carved Cassetta in quartersawn white oak with Saturated Medieval Oak stain. The carved liner is leafed in 18 kt gold. The carving on the liner a... continue reading.
Framing CFA Voysey
One of the greatest English Arts and Crafts architects and designers was Charles Francis Annesley Voysey (1857—1941). This is a lovely bit of Voysey wallpaper design we were asked to frame recently. Had fun grabbing the bold outline of the pattern for the bold outline... continue reading.
Framing Laura Adams Armer
We were proud to be asked by Gus Bostrom and our friends at California Historical Design to frame this important oil on canvas by Laura Adams Armer (1874 – 1963), titled “Hopi Woman Oraibi Village,” 1929, 38” x 30”. In fact, we re-framed it; here it is... continue reading.
Framing Chiura Obata’s High Sierra and “Great Nature”
This is a woodblock by Berkeley artist Chiura Obata (1885-1975), titled “Upper Lyell Fork, Near Lyell Glacier, High Sierra,” 16″ x 11″. The carved frame, made in walnut with a black wash, is a variation on our No. 14 CV, a frame I like to use for... continue reading.