The Framing of Your Portraits
We offer custom framing for all your portraits – oils, MasterWorks, watercolor prints, mini-galleries, and photographic portraits. The selection of the frame and proper framing are integral parts of the creation of your final images. It is neither an afterthought nor an area in which to economize. We strongly believe that delivering portraits unframed is giving you a job that is only half-done and ultimately is a disservice to you.
Our Frame Designer We work closely with a local framer and design artist, Bert Walker, who has 35 years of experience framing portrait art. We have the utmost confidence in his design skills and craftsmanship. He, like us, guarantees his work and your satisfaction. We are proud to have him as part of our team.
Guarantee All of our portraits have a lifetime guarantee provided we have framed them. We are not able to extend this guarantee to portraits that are delivered unframed or that are framed by an outside framer.
Too often one of several things happens when we deliver a portrait unframed:
- Even with the best of intentions, the portrait never gets framed. Perhaps it is stuffed in a drawer (risking damage) or stored behind the sofa. Your life gets busy, your time is precious and you simply don’t get around to it.
- Your framer inadvertently damages your expensive portrait. Framers are usually reliable and careful yet an accident can happen in spite of their care. Rarely do framers have replacement-value insurance. Most are not aware of the hundreds or thousands of dollars you invested on your portrait and are incredulous when you ask them to pay the replacement cost.
- Some framers do not know how to frame fine-art portraits. There is a difference between framing a landscape or a poster and framing a portrait. The nuances of skin tones, combined with the colors of the clothing and the textures of the environment, create challenges to any framer who is concerned about the beauty and harmony of the finished framed portrait. Equally important is the craftsmanship. Our framer uses archival products and archival framing techniques. The watercolor prints require an even greater measure of care. All of our efforts are to protect and preserve your investment.
- Just because it’s the right size doesn’t mean it’s the right frame. We have had clients who decided to not have us frame their portraits because they were going to make their own or they had empty frames at home. The frame is an extension of the creative process that completes your portrait. The essential purpose of frame selection is to choose a frame that complements and enhances the image. Choosing a frame that matches your other furniture or decorating style regardless of how it looks on the portrait is a mistake. The frame will always be married to the portrait even when it hangs in other rooms and other homes.
Level 1 Framing Our frame design artist will select an exquisite frame taking into consideration your preferences and the needs of your portraits. Includes the artistic analysis of the portrait and selection of the frame or frame with liner in the appropriate width and style to enhance your portrait. The piece is properly fitted, secured and finished with a paper backing, hanging wire and corner bumpers using archival materials. Level 1 framing is priced at 35% of the price of a portrait of the least expensive finish.
Level 2 Framing Includes all the services and guarantees that come with Level 1 Framing with the addition of matting and conservation glass that offers UV protection and is 95% non-reflective. Level 2 framing is priced at 50% of the price of a portrait of the least expensive finish. (Level 2 framing is not recommended for oils, MasterWorks or canvas portraits.)
Watercolor Prints are printed as beautiful images on art paper. They are Level 2 framed with the addition of floater mounting on an over-sized background mat. Framing is included in the price of the watercolor print.