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

Framing Sausalito: Jane Kriss’s Homage to M. Sasek

Posted on January 22nd, 2019

I don’t think there’s a more charming site on the shore of San Francisco Bay than the town of Sausalito. My sister, Jane Kriss, is very lucky to live there, and was inspired to write and illustrate a book to match that charm: Next Stop Sausalito. And I’... continue reading.

Framing “Discoveries In Early California Art”: North Point Gallery Exhibit Opens Today

Posted on December 1st, 2018

Over the years we have framed numerous paintings for our friends at North Point Gallery. Today they are opening a lovely show called “Discoveries In Early California Art,” and I’m happy to say we have a large number of frames on display. North Point... continue reading.

Framing a William S. Rice Woodblock Print

Posted on November 15th, 2018

A happy customer just left here with this block print, “Lake Merritt”, by the great California artist William Seltzer Rice (1873-1963). An interesting thing about making wooden frames for block prints is that decorative carving of the frame can be done in th... continue reading.

Protecting Paradise: Framing Ernesto Nemesio for “Beloved California III”

Posted on November 10th, 2018

This morning I completed the framing for “Beloved California, III”, our big annual all-gallery exhibit which opens today with a reception from 4 to 6. (I hope you’ll come.) The final piece framed is Ernesto Nemesio‘s “Sailor Lake Wildflower... continue reading.

Framing Carol Peek for “Beloved California III”

Posted on November 4th, 2018

Here’s another great painting that will be in our show “Beloved California III” opening this Saturday. This one, “Spring Melody,” 11″ x 14″, is by Marin County painter, Carol Peek. We framed it in a simple 2-3/4″ stepped p... continue reading.

Framing Bill Cone and “Beloved California”

Posted on October 27th, 2018

Our annual all-gallery show, “Beloved California,” opens in two weeks, and we’re down to the last few frames. So I thought I’d put up a few posts talking about the framing. We’ve been exploring some new directions, and this show offered the... continue reading.

Framing Portrait Photography by Nan Phelps

Posted on October 10th, 2018

Tomorrow night I’ll be giving a small, informal talk at the studio of Nan Phelps, an exceptional portrait photographer I’ve known and admired for decades. The subject of the talk will be the value and method of framing photographs, and the practice of frame-... continue reading.

Framing Jose Gutierrez Solana

Posted on September 13th, 2018

We framed this historical European painting for the Hispanic Society of America, just in time for it to be included in a significant show, “Endless Enigma: Eight Centuries of Fantastic Art,” that just opened last night at the David Zwirner Gallery in New Yor... continue reading.

A Blurb on Framing “The Lark”

Posted on September 11th, 2018

For a couple of years in San Francisco’s early decades, Gelett Burgess published a little literary magazine called The Lark—and a bit of a lark it was. Its first issue, which came out May 1, 1895, included the piece of writing Burgess was best known for, “... continue reading.