Framing
A work of art has its own intrinsic values. It appeals to the eye and to the soul. But it is the frame that brings it all together and brings the best out of the art work and the best out of your room.
Hugh Goring has been working in the industry for 40 years and consequently is a highly experienced framer. Over the years, the gallery has established itself as one of the finest picture framers in the UK, providing an award-winning service. We specialise in providing a range of hand-made frames designed to bring the very best out of any painting.
The techniques we use are traditional dating back hundreds of years including gesso, rabbit skin glue and bole. The end result is a frame that is unique and will meet your exact requirements.
Our Frames
Mouldings
The moulding is the basic shape of the frame that goes round your picture. There are many hundreds of different sizes, shapes and colours and choosing the right one for your picture can be a challenge. Different types of work will suit different frames. Oils and acrylics may suit a larger frame without a mount, a watercolour or print often looks best with a mount and glass. Whatever your work is you can rest assured that our staff are highly experienced and will guide you to the correct frame that will best suit you and your work.
Finishes
Many of the mouldings that we have are ready finished and come in a wide range of golds, silvers, black, brown, natural and coloured. For many of the items that we frame we can find the ideal one amongst the large range that we carry in stock.
However, there are many times when the piece that is brought to us needs something special, and that is when our long experience of hand finishing is of most use.
To create something unique you need the skills of the gilder, a technique that has been used since early Renaissance times and remains essentially the same. We are one of very few workshops in Scotland that can call on these skills. A moulding that has been gilded with 22ct gold leaf has the warmth and subtlety that cannot be achieved in other ways and has a timeless quality that is hard to match.
The traditional method of gilding is water based resulting in an immaculate burnished shine. Some techniques can use the colour and texture of the underlying bole to great effect.
Silver is a very popular leaf and, using the colour and texture of the bole result in a silver that has a warm lustre through to near black. From a silvery orange, to a near blue. Silver is a highly flexible material that can bring out the very best in a framed painting.
For some modern paintings, something other than gold or silver really does make a difference. At Frames Gallery we can produce frames that are limed, waxed, stained or washed to create a wonderful effect.
Glass
Once again the choice is no longer just between glass or not.
Modern houses are light places and it can be difficult to find somewhere to hang a picture that doesn’t reflect too much. In the last few years glass which was only available to Art Galleries and Museums is now available to anyone. It reduces the reflections in glass to such a level that the artwork can be seen with no interference. It is wonderful but expensive and we would not sell it for every job. But there are many times when it is exactly what is required. It is also available with added ultra-violet protection against fading.
Mountboard
Once upon a time the choice of mountboards was rather small and back when Hugh started as a framer everyone wanted coloured mounts. But fashion changes and at the moment simplicity is the order of the day. Consequently we have a large range of whites and off-whites to suit many works of art. We do, of course still have many other colours that allow for the creation of double mounts and often will suit a particular job.
Nowadays the colour of a mount is not the only consideration, as what it is made of is also important. Some of you may have something that was framed many years ago and the mount will have discoloured greatly, particularly on the inside edge. This is because mounts used to be made from wood pulp which would deteriorate in time.
Today, conservation in framing, as in many other fields, is of importance to the client and we offer a wide range of boards which are made to last and are of great importance when framing something of value. Sentimental or monetary. Once again our staff will advise on what is best for your particular work.
Examples
Restoration
At our purpose built workshop, Frames Gallery is able to restore, renovate and re-gild old frames. We can also create swept frames according to our clients specific instructions.
Frames can be water gilded, metal leaf finished or finished using gold wax or gold paint depending on how traditional the end result is to be.
Our staff will be delighted to answer your questions, provide samples or supply you with an estimate for the cost of any work.