Carved frame for minor repairs

Water gilded frame with spandrel

This hand made water gilded frame has a gilded slip called a spandrel fitted, this is used to fit a round or other shaped painting into a rectangular frame. In this case it is not a painting but a mirror, frames like this are available for sale at my workshop, and can be made in any traditional or contemporary style, and to any size.

Original terrier portrait

Silver leaf

The triangle has been gilded with silver leaf. The leaf is adhered to the surface with an acrylic gold size. This is very easy and convenient to use, although rather limited in applications. The leaf is sealed to prevent it tarnishing through oxidation.

Frames being painted with bole

Walnut frame

The walnut frame has been sanded all over, it was then stained with a spirit based wood stain called 'English Walnut', then it was waxed, and I think it looks great.

Triangular frame

The triangle frame has been painted with grey acrylic primer undercoat and then two coats of Farrow and Ball Charleston Gray.

Big pierced mirror frame

Gilded columns

Swept frame repair

This swept watercolour frame has a damaged centre, the corners and centres are easily damaged when frames are moved around, as is often the case when galleries exhibit at art fairs or the gallery is being re-hung. A repair like this will take about 30 minutes to fix.

Super rack is finished

Glass cutting bench is finished

The glass cutting bench has been covered with carpet at last! The dividers underneath are split into sections with different types of glass, such as: museum, anti-reflective, float, and antique glass to name a few.

Different jobs

Now and then I get jobs that are nothing to do with framing. This head sculpture had broken at the base. The metal bolt and all the areas around the repair were sealed with a reversible and stable conservation acrylic resin adhesive, then a two part epoxy adhesive was used to repair the damaged section. The conservation adhesive can be easily reversed in the future if required.

The same technique I used on the head sculpture was used on this glass artwork. All areas around the repair were isolated with a reversible barrier adhesive, then a two part epoxy was used to make a strong repair. 

These two jobs above were done some months ago, but this week I have been working on these turned rosewood columns for a furniture maker. They are being oil gilded in the flutes of the spiral column. I am at the workshop now, waiting for the gold size to reach 'tackiness' before I can put the gold on.

Big children's map

This large children's map of the world is glazed with 3mm acrylic to reduce the weight and make it safe for displaying around young children.

Carved Italian mirror frame

This carved Florentine style mirror frame was repaired last week, now I'm just waiting for the mirror glass to be delivered...

Making a triangular frame

Here we are making an equal sided triangular frame. We (VERY CAREFULLY!) used the table saw to cut the mitres. The moulding was too wide to cut on the other frame cutting equipment we have (Morso and OMGA saw), so a simple sliding jig was used. The corners are then joined with Hoffmann dovetail keys. The frame is for a mirror, and will be finished with silver leaf and grey painted scoop section.The frame behind the triangle is a custom made walnut profile, and the frame to the left is an antique oak frame which will be cut down to period frame an early 20th Century painting.

Glue on the glass bench

Here Phil is inspecting Ian's work at covering the glass bench in glue before the carpet is put on top, and then weighted down with a few 8'x4' MDF sheets.

Artist Jeremy Houghton

This fun and cheeky watercolour by Jeremy Houghton came in last week for a new frame. The painting is called 'The Synchronised Swimmer Who Forgot Her Costume', and it recently appeared in the The Daily Mail. It will be in an exhibition at London Heathrow's Terminal Five.

frame restoration

I finished restoring this set of four delicate little Victorian frames last week. They each had lots of little bits missing, and are now good and complete without any missing sections of ornament.

Big rack and under bench storage

I knocked together the framework for the big storage rack today, it will hold frames up to 6ft long, it still needs some uprights fitted, similar to the under bench racks in the photo above. This will allow 2 or 3 frames in each rack, so it should be able to comfortably fit 12 to 16 large frames. 

Once this rack is finished, that will be it for frame storage in the workshop, next job on the list is a display shelf unit for the ready made frames in the reception room.

More storage space!

Today has been really busy at the workshop, with customers coming and going non-stop. I have just about managed to finish rack number 3 this afternoon, it just needs a bench top on the part beneath the window, and a few bits of carpet, but its basically ready to go. I have managed to use up and recycle lots of offcuts, scrap wood, and timber to make the racks and other fittings in the workshop. Next up is a basic rack for really, really big frames, the base for this will be an old and rather useless door! I may try and get this started tomorrow...

Work on third storage rack

Finished silk framing

Damage to woven silk artwork

These collectable woven silk pictures were framed many years ago, sellotape and double sided tape were used to fix them and this has caused damage and marking around the image. You can see in the bottom photo, the adhesive in the tape has badly marked the front of the material.