A Frame-Maker’s Journal
Updates and ruminations 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
What Ruskin Saw Framed in the Stones of Florence
One day in the 1860’s Ruskin had stood here at the base of the Campanile in Florence, his famously observant eyes captivated, darting back and forth between the sketchbook in his hand and one particular engraved stone just above eye level on the tower’s north wa... continue reading.
Framing Paradise in the Stones of Venice
John Ruskin called Venice the Paradise of Cities. And so it is. Last month I spent five days in Paradise, which I can report is—curiously enough—populated mostly by tourists who don’t plan to stay long. (Maybe they all have bad consciences and don’t thin... continue reading.
Now showing: “A California Spring”
We had a terrific opening a couple of weeks ago for our current show, “A California Spring.” It’s up for 2 more weeks (closing Saturday, May 31), and we’d love to have you come by to see this great display of dozens of new works by fourteen highl... continue reading.
“A California Spring” Almost Sprung
Final preparations are being made for our show that’s opening at The Holton Studio Gallery on Saturday, “A California Spring.” We’ll be hosting a reception for the artists that day from 5 to 7, and invite one and all to join us. We’ve also ... continue reading.
The Lasting Frame
“When we build, let us think that we build forever,” wrote Ruskin in The Seven Lamps of Architecture. We make in enduring form—stone, strong timbers, iron, and all durable materials—things we believe will endure in use and meaning. When we build for last... continue reading.
The Wooden Frame of Reverence
We recently framed this great painting by the 19th century British landscape painter Benjamin Williams Leader, which demonstrates the artist’s deeply felt reverence for the great frame of life that John Ruskin, the foremost pastor of the arts in Britain in Leader&... continue reading.
James McGrew Featured in Southwest Art Magazine
James McGrew, one of the artists we represent, is featured in the current issue of Southwest Art Magazine and being deservedly touted as an emerging artist. I love how he frames his objective as a painter: “I want the viewer to feel a sense of awe and wonder that help... continue reading.
Paul Kratter Places First at Borrego Springs Invitational
Congratulations to Paul Kratter whose painting “Desert Blues,” displaying the artist’s formidable talent in capturing atmosphere, earned him first place at the Borrego Springs Plein Air Invitational this past weekend. Fantastic, Paul! Congratulations! ... continue reading.
William James and the Hand Crafted Frame of Youth
“It is by having hands that man is the most intelligent of animals,” according to the ancient Greek Anaxagoras. It follows that handcraft is indispensable to the education of our children—and that in a debased society education should lose its basis in han... continue reading.