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
Happy Birthday, Dad
Today my dad would’ve turned 90. Here’s a picture we took in 2005, upon finishing the sign that hung over the old gallery at 5510 Doyle St. I’m proud he got to see his name carried on this way—although, sadly, he died before we got it hung. See my tr... continue reading.
Lessons in Framing Close, from Filippo Lippi and Hans Memling
Last Saturday’s post on framing a couple of HW Hansen watercolors, which we framed close, ended with the observation that, “Framing close means that the frame is close to the picture; no mat separates them. But there’s a second meaning, at least as importa... continue reading.
Makers and Destroyers
Today I’m sharing a video made in 2011 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art about a Muslim family, the Najis, and their company of master craftsmen who came there to build a Moroccan court inside the Museum as part of the Met’s Islamic arts galleries. They were, th... continue reading.
The Hillside Club and the Framing of True Civilization
On Thursday, December 17 the Hillside Club in Berkeley will feature a lecture on “The Hillside Club and the True Meaning of Civilization”, by British cultural historian Nicholas Friend. Several years ago I started the Hillside Club Round Table to meet once a... continue reading.
Yoshiko Yamamoto Featured on PBS Series “Craft In America”
If you’ve been following PBS’s excellent “Craft In America” you may be aware of their latest installment, called “Celebration,” and airing this Friday, December 11. I was very happy to learn this morning that Yoshiko Yamamoto will be ... continue reading.
Framing H.W. Hansen
Have two fantastic western watercolors by Herman Wendelborg Hansen (1853-1924) to show. Hansen was born in Germany and settled here in the Bay Area. He was friends with William Keith and Maynard Dixon, but was clearly a very different painter. His son was Armin Hansen, ... continue reading.
Event—How William Morris Framed Utopia
One of the blessings that my passion for the Arts and Crafts Movement has brought upon me is coming to know some wonderful scholars of John Ruskin and William Morris, the Movement’s seminal figures. I’m proud to announce that two of these scholars, Clive Wil... continue reading.
Re-framing Percy Gray
Here’s a new before-and-after for the webpage, “Fixing a ‘Very Prevalent Error’: The Cabinetmaker’s Answer to the Gold Frame Convention”. This is a wonderful 1914 watercolor by Percy Gray. Asking of you a little imagination, I hope this c... continue reading.
Framing Charles Rollo Peters
Known as “The Poet of the Night,” Charles Rollo Peters (1862-1928) was surely California’s best known limner of nocturnes. He lived in Monterey, and especially enjoyed painting his local region and its vernacular architecture. His preference for noctur... continue reading.