Osner Framing, Hout Bay
Picture Framing in Hout Bay
Our framing workshop sits in the same building as the gallery, at 14 Luisa Way. Every work we sell is framed here by hand, and we frame for collectors, artists and anyone in Cape Town who wants a piece framed properly.
In the workshop
Framed by hand, one work at a time
Nothing is sent away. Mounts are cut, mouldings joined, glass fitted and backs sealed in our own workshop, which means we can look after a work from the wall of the gallery to the wall of your home. We use conservation materials as a matter of course: acid free mats and backing boards, and mouldings in solid wood.
How we frame
Quiet frames, so the work can speak
Our style is clean and simple. Natural wood, white, black, charcoal or grey, in slim profiles without ornament, hand stained or painted when a work or a room needs a particular tone. The frame is there to hold and protect the work, not to compete with it.
Two ways we like to frame
The floating frame holds the work slightly proud inside an L shaped moulding, with a gutter of five to seven millimetres around it, so the piece appears to float within the frame. The elevated shadow mat lifts the mount above the artwork, with the glass to the front, giving the work depth and keeping the glass off its surface.
Mounting and glass
Works that must stay reversible are hinged with archival tape onto archival board. Photographs that need to lie perfectly flat are vacuum mounted. For glazing we use standard glass, UV protective and non reflective museum glass where light or reflection is a problem, and plexiglass for anything that has to travel.
More examples of our framing are on osnerframing.co.za.
Beyond the frame
We finish the job at your wall
Framing is one part of it. We also pack and crate, deliver and hang, and we will tell you honestly what a wall can take. Our team hangs across Cape Town, from Hout Bay and Llandudno to Camps Bay, Constantia and Noordhoek, and we ship further afield when a work is going home with you.
If you would like a second eye on what goes where, Martin Osner and Samantha Lee Osner give placement advice in person as part of our art services.
For offices, hotels and guest houses
We frame and install for reception areas, boardrooms, hotels, bed and breakfasts and guest houses, either from your own collection or from ours, and we keep a project consistent across a whole building.
For interior designers
Designers work with us on sizing, mouldings and mounts, so a scheme holds together. There is more on our page for interior designers, and on commissioned work if a wall needs something made for it.
Framing questions
Bringing us something to frame
Osner Gallery is at 14 Luisa Way, Hout Bay, twenty minutes from Cape Town. Open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturday 10am to 4pm. Sunday by appointment, booked the day before. Plan your visit. Bring the work in, or send us the measurements and a photograph, and we will come back to you with a quote.
Do I have to buy art from you?
No. We frame whatever you bring us, whether it came from our gallery, another gallery, a trip abroad or the back of a cupboard.
What does framing cost?
It is quoted for each piece, because the size, the moulding, the mount and the glass all change the price. Send us the measurements and a photograph and we will quote.
Can you match a frame I already have?
Usually, yes. We stain and paint mouldings by hand, so a new frame can be matched to one you already own, or to the wood and tones in a room.
Is your framing archival?
Yes. We use acid free mats and backing boards as standard, with archival hinging or vacuum mounting, and UV protective glass where a work needs it.
Will it survive a flight?
Works that travel are packed by us, with plexiglass instead of glass, and crated if they are large.
Can you hang it for us?
Yes. Delivery and hanging are part of our art services, across Cape Town.