The Oaksmith Gazzetta - News, Insights, Musings

Three Into One!

By oaksmith On 2 May 2013 In Insights With No Comments Permanent Link to Three Into One!

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Having framed several of Hester Finch’s paintings in the past, we were delighted to be approached by her again to try something new for one of her recent portrait commissions.

Last year, we framed an Indian wedding dress using three frames to add depth and interest. This time, by using the same concept, but with a different combination we accomplished an elaborate and truly bespoke frame.

We began this construction by choosing a tray frame which allowed us to float Hester’s canvas in the middle. This combined with a square sub-frame underneath deepened the overall effect. With its’ generous, rounded profile, the top main frame has classic appeal and therefore rounds off this frame construction in an elegant way.

In this frame, the striking combination of classic shape is brought bang up to date by being painted in a clean light grey, with Farrow & Ball‘s Elephant Breath. The resulting finish gives a very contemporary feel to the classically-shaped frame, thus enhancing the bright tones of Hester’s painting beautifully.

A graduate of the Ruskin in Oxford, Hester Finch is a painter and portrait artist. Based in London, she makes portraits to commission and exhibits both nationally and internationally.

Frame construction

Hester Finch framed painting

The finished piece

Art From Around The Globe

By oaksmith On 10 March 2013 In Musings With No Comments Permanent Link to Art From Around The Globe

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One of the most exciting things about working and living in London is the cultural mix we get to experience on a nearly daily basis. We have framed art for exhibitions in The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and the USA. We also regularly frame the artwork of international artists who call London their home. Two exhibitions we’ve worked on that are currently on show and highly recommended are by Turkish artist Güler Ates and Russian photographer Valery Katsuba.

We have written about Güler Ates’s photography before on this blog and would like to recommend her current exhibition at the Royal Academy Gallery Cafe which is on show until the 24th April. It features a whole new body of work of imagery taken in the impressive library of the Royal Academy.

Güler Ates / RA Gallery Cafe

Valery Katsuba is a photographer from St. Petersburg who’s stunning portraits of Russian athletes is currently on show at Artmost, a private gallery in Mayfair specialising in contemporary Russian art. The photographs are collected from several projects about circus athletes, trapeze gymnasts, fitness and beauty. Beautifully shot and exactingly composed they allude to a rich past of Russian athletics that still permeate practice in modern times.

Valery Katsuba at Artmost

Happy Holidays & Christmas Opening Times

By oaksmith On 25 December 2012 In News With No Comments Permanent Link to Happy Holidays & Christmas Opening Times

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As 2012 is drawing to a close, we want to wish all our clients a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

2012 has been a big year for us from framing technically challenging fine art pieces as large, as fragile and as complex as we’d ever imagined to making 76 tray frames for a cruise ship in a time span of less than two weeks… it’s been an exhilarating journey and we’re well prepared for more in the new year! Thank you to all who’ve trusted our services and expertise this year. We’re looking forward to continued and new projects and relationships in 2013.

Our studio will be shut from the 22nd of December to the 7th of January 2013 when we’ll reopen with our regular opening times.

Merry Christmas!

East London Design Show

By oaksmith On 19 November 2012 In News With No Comments Permanent Link to East London Design Show

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Yes, it is true, Christmas season is upon us once again and we have been very busy preparing for it here at Oaksmith Studio. This year we have a very special appearance at one of London’s most exciting Christmas shopping events, the East London Design Show. Taking place from the 6th – 9th December at Shoreditch Town Hall, we’ll be gathering all our handmade produce to sell at our market stall. We’ll have… are you ready?… box frames, frames with window mounts, painted frames, stained frames, gold & silver gilt frames, Scandinavian-style hardwood frames, frames with museum quality UV glass as well as a small selection of framed magnetic chalkboards and mirrors.

As always all of our frames are cut, joined and finished by hand in our studio to the same quality as our bespoke work. They will be on sale at heavily discounted prices. Quantities are limited so do come early to avoid disappointment!

If you’re an artist or illustrator or have a small piece of art you want to give someone for Christmas this year, bring your piece along to see which frame might suit it best.

In the meantime, make a note of these sizes which we’ll be offering for sale:

A6 (10 x 15 cm) standard postcard size

A6 with 3 cm window mount (16.5 x 20.8 cm)

A5 (14.8 x 21 cm)

A5 with a 3 cm window mount (20.8 x 27 cm)

5 x 7″ (12.7 x 17.8 cm)

5 x 7″ with a 3 cm window mount (18.7 x 23.8 cm)

6 x 8″ (15.2 x 20.3 cm)

6 x 8″ with a 3 cm window mount (21.2 x 26.3 cm)

On top of that we’ll have our popular range of square “Instagram frames“, some as box frames, some with window mounts. They’ll come in black, brown, white as well as light and dark grey. They measure 19.5 x 19.5 cm – the perfect size for printing your square Instagram photos on a regular A4 inkjet printer at home…

Whilst you’re here, check out this fun little questionnaire we filled in for the East London Design show… click here.

Please note that our Etsy shop, The Oaksmith Pantry, is on holiday whilst we prepare for the East London Design Show. We will re-open it after the market rush.

The Oaksmith Studio Prize 2012 Round Up

By oaksmith On 8 October 2012 In News With No Comments Permanent Link to The Oaksmith Studio Prize 2012 Round Up

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Victoria Arney, our Oaksmith Studio Prize recipient this year, concluded her MA printmaking studies at Camberwell College of Arts last month and showed her final piece in the graduate exhibition.

The large scale, multi-panel piece entitled Boundary was created by alternating positive and negative etchings in stark black and white. We mounted the panels and framed them in a narrow tray frame which was hand painted in a matt black. Unglazed, the viewer was able to see even the smallest handmade marks of the huge print and, hung on a black wall, the piece took center stage in a dramatic way.

Once again: Congratulations Victoria!

Boundary, 2012

Boundary, 2012, at Camberwell College of Arts, London

The Oaksmith Studio Prize 2012

By oaksmith On 22 June 2012 In News With No Comments Permanent Link to The Oaksmith Studio Prize 2012

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We recently got very busy with the second edition of our Oaksmith Studio Prize and are thrilled to finally share the results here on our blog.

After opening up eligibility to MA Fine Art and related courses from across the University of the Arts London, we met up with last year’s prize winner Georgina McNamara to go through the selection process. Little did we know how hard it would be to make a final choice… but after reading all candidates’ artist statements and viewing and reviewing their submitted visual materials, we finally chose Victoria Arney as the Oaksmith Studio’s 2012 Prize Winner.

Victoria is a final year student on the MA Printmaking course at Camberwell College of Arts. Her large scale, multi-panel etchings make use of repetition, mirror images and negative prints. Using drawing as a starting technique, Victoria’s final prints are dramatic visual statements that invite the viewer in to decipher a deeper context. Inspired by common media channels and how they filter message and content before it reaches the end audience, her recent works have explored widely reported and “experienced” world events such as the Japan tsunami and the protests in Egypt and London.

Says Victoria: “Events are continuously being superseded by more news and a flow of generalised histories, of nations or of land become lost. Drawing, re. looking and dissecting these images I hope marks the fragility of our territories.”

We chose Victoria as the Oaksmith Studio Prize winner due to the inspiring and inspired combination of her stunning mark-making and a challenging discourse with politics and the media. We are looking forward to working with her in preparation for her MA degree show which will take place from 5th September 2012. We’ll be sure to post updates as and when they happen…

meeting Victoria at Oaksmith Studio

Victoria Arney – Boundary – 2012

Home Improvements

By oaksmith On 21 March 2012 In Musings With No Comments Permanent Link to Home Improvements

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That’s right… we’ve been doing some “home improvements” at Oaksmith Studio. It’s been almost a year since we moved in and back then the studio was a blank canvas ready to be filled with furniture, equipment, tools and, of course, art and frames, frames, frames. Creating a welcoming work space was not only important to gain trust and inspire our clients, but also for ourselves. We spend the majority of our days here and we want to feel inspired by our surroundings, we like to feel “at home”.

As those of you who’ve worked with us before know, we’re big fans of the Farrow & Ball range of paints. The collection of shades is spot on and they just finish beautifully on bare obeche and tulip frames. Here’s a brand new shelf (made of nice deep moulding painted in F&B’s Studio Green) that Mauro built only last week to house our growing collection of F&B pots. Hanging alongside a signed screenprint by American artist Jay Ryan it has turned the underpinner area into our new favourite corner.

Underpinner, F&B Paints and Jay Ryan

Even before we moved into the V22 complex, we had amassed a collection of vintage frames in various sizes and conditions. Finally they’ve found a place to be proudly displayed, the side balustrade of our mezzanine. We’re going for the lived-in front room style here… also displayed on the balustrade are two prints by Anthony Burrill and a Grayson Perry tea towel from his recent show at the British Museum.

Old & New Frames on Display on our Mezzanine (and Mauro underneath)

And just because we like to remind ourselves of the transformation our workspace has seen in the last 11 months, here’s a photo of our unit as it was handed to us when we moved in. You can see that big blue shutter in all of the photos…

Our Studio - one year ago

Bartering for Art

By oaksmith On 14 March 2012 In Musings With No Comments Permanent Link to Bartering for Art

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When we read about the upcoming Art Barter event in the Metro newspaper a few weeks ago, we were intrigued and jumped at the chance to play. Art Barter, run by Alix Janta and Lauren Jones, organise exhibitions at which you can barter goods or services for artworks rather than pay for them with money. This exhibition was the first London solo show by French-born New York-based artist Baptiste Ibar entitled Before Your Eyes (Busts). We instantly loved his playful explosions of colour and textures on paper and canvases, so we contacted Alix and Lauren to see if Baptiste would be interested in exchanging our framing services for a couple of his works on paper. And he did!

Baptiste Ibar signing art at Oaksmith Studio

With just a few short days to the opening of the exhibition at The Last Tuesday Society in Hackney we produced two large black box frames and six smaller flat white frames to showcase Baptiste’s key pieces. And on Saturday we attended the packed opening event at which Baptiste also played a few of his songs. Here are a bunch of photos of the exhibition which is on show at The Last Tuesday Society until 7th April 2012.

Baptiste Ibar - Before Your Eyes (Busts)

Baptiste playing tunes

Unveiling The Veil – Framing Photography

By oaksmith On 17 February 2012 In Insights With No Comments Permanent Link to Unveiling The Veil – Framing Photography

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We recently had the pleasure of working with London-based Turkish artist Güler Ates framing her intriguing, beautiful photography for her first solo exhibition in Amsterdam at the Marian Cramer Gallery. Güler’s work deals with femininity, mystery and identity. Her photographs are unconventional portraits which only hint at the person being photographed.

After being expertly mounted to smooth foamex board by Terry Greenwood, we framed Güler’s photographs in black box frames with a wood grain finish. The almost invisible anti-reflective glass was set away from the photographs by using very thin internal spacers.

Here are a few photos of the finished pieces in situ at the Marian Cramer Gallery.

Güler Ates - Unveiling The Veil

Unweave The Rainbow at SCREAM Gallery

Caroline Jane Harris - As Above, So Below III_1

By oaksmith On 6 February 2012 In Musings With No Comments Permanent Link to Unweave The Rainbow at SCREAM Gallery

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Recently we attended the private view of a new show of emerging international artists at Scream Gallery. We completed three frames for young UK artist Caroline Jane Harris who is part of this lively show just off Bond Street. We had already discovered Caroline’s work at The Other Art Fair a couple of months ago, so were more than pleased to work with her in preparation for her Scream outing.

Caroline’s work is stunningly beautiful from afar and amazingly intricate close up. Layers upon layers of delicate hand papercuts cast shadows and play with the viewer’s senses. Are these trees? Are they nerve endings? Or is it lace?

To frame these pieces, we chose an obeche box frame which was able to accommodate the multiple layers with air space between each. The frame was painted in Farrow & Ball’s Great White which was picked after much deliberation to compliment the soft shades of grey and white of the artwork. The resulting frames are elegant and support the art within without imposing on it.

The exhibition runs until 10 March 2012 at 34 Bruton Street, London W1J 6QX and is well worth a visit.