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
Real Wealth: Steve Jobs and Handcraft
Steve Jobs and handcraft are not two things we naturally associate with each other. But they should be. Allow me to explain. Big news in the business world this week is Jobs stepping down from Apple. One story about this that played on the radio caught my attention, as ... continue reading.
James McGrew
We’re excited to be welcoming James McGrew to the Gallery. A passionate explorer and painter of Yosemite National Park, James has spent a lifetime (well, his life so far) capturing the Park’s magnificent natural beauty. We’re featuring his plein air wo... continue reading.
Framing a Pamela Glasscock Watercolor
We just framed a set of three floral watercolors by northern California artist Pamela Glasscock. To marry the delicate images with a Craftsman interior, we couldn’t do better than our old standby, the Yoshida frame. Made in machiche, a tropical hardwood (sustainab... continue reading.
Re-framing Hanson Puthuff
The landscape paintings of Hanson Puthoff (1875-1972) made a major contribution to California’s rich heritage of landscape painting. Unfortunately, his pieces did not always find their way into frames that do them justice. Here’s one example we had the honor... continue reading.
Re-framing a New—and Much Larger—Rosa Bonheur
Last year we re-framed a couple of paintings of stags, both by premiere nineteenth century French wildlife painter Rosa Bonheur, which I blogged about here. We just did another one, and at 48″ x 36″ it’s considerably bigger than the first two. First, h... continue reading.
Congratulations Bryan Taylor!
Our artist, Bryan Mark Taylor, won first place in the Quick Draw competition at Plein Air Easton, Maryland (July 18-24, 2011). Congratulations, Bryan! Learn more here... See the piece and the artists remarks on it at his blog, here. Here are a couple of my favorite piec... continue reading.
Recent Bill Cone work, and framing
Bill Cone recently brought in these two beautiful pastels for The Summer Show. “Gateway Morning,” pastel on paper. 8″ x 8″. “Wildflowers,” pastel on paper. 9″ x 12″. We’ve also just completed framing a few of Bill... continue reading.
The Arts and “Reverence for Life”
“It is indeed in…the belief in the beneficent progress of civilisation, that I venture to face you and to entreat you to strive to enter into the real meaning of the arts, which are surely the expression of reverence for nature, and the crown of nature, the ... continue reading.
“Als Ik Kan”: Hephaestus’s Imperfect Frame
If the Arts and Crafts Movement can be said to have a motto, it is surely “Als Ik Kan.” First assumed by William Morris—more famously in its French form, “Si Je Puis”—it was further popularized by Gustav Stickley through the marks on his furn... continue reading.