Houston’s Custom Framing | Ashland, OR Picture Framing

Welcome to Houston’s Custom Framing & Fine Art

Houston’s Custom Framing is the shop to trust for custom picture framing, art conservation, and photo restoration in Southern Oregon and for collectors who ship work in from other states. Whether you live in the Rogue Valley or you are coordinating a project by phone and email, we help you choose mats, glazing, and mouldings that protect the art and fit your room. Call toll free when you want to talk through timing, budget, and design direction.

The business is known for careful framing design and steady craft. Projects from the bench have been covered in Picture Framing Magazine, and the shop has received recognition from colleagues in the trade. Alongside framing, we show fine art in the gallery and work with a roster of printmakers and painters. Browse the Gallery menu for individual artist pages.

Working with us from Ashland or from a distance

Many clients bring diplomas, family photos, posters, and original art straight to the bench at 280 East Hersey Street. Others live outside Oregon and send pieces by mail or courier. For remote projects we can sketch options, share photos of corner samples, and use visualization tools so you can see a proposed frame and mat combination before you commit. That same process works for oversized pieces, shadowbox objects, and delicate works on paper that need museum-style housing.

We stock a wide range of conservation boards, hinges, and glazing choices so the package matches how long you plan to keep the work on the wall and how much light hits it. If you are restoring a damaged photograph or paper item, our team coordinates with the same care on the way in and the way back out of the shop. Questions about a specific piece are welcome before you pack anything.

The gallery includes fine art from several represented artists. Follow the link below for the Russell Chatham page.

russell chatham

Owner and lead framer Thomas M. Houston is among fewer than one hundred Master Certified Picture Framers (MCPFs) worldwide and, at present, the only MCPF based in Oregon.

Framing

Here at Houston’s Custom Framing & Fine Art, we regard picture framing as not just a craft, but an art. We believe that good framing design makes all the difference not only in terms of the presentation and perception of your artwork but also for its overall well being over time. Our goal is to enhance the essential beauty of whatever is being framed and to uphold conservation standards to ensure the longevity of the piece. We enjoy being creative with what we do in order to arrive at a design that will showcase the artwork without detracting. To read more about our philosophy on framing click here

From Simple to the Sublime…

From the smallest, simplest child’s drawing to works by the Masters, family photographs, heirloom treasures, needlework, Aunt Martha’s spoon collection or any other kind of special project, we give every piece our fullest attention.

Bracelet shadowbox, designed remotely for a client in Reno, NV.

With 1000s of moldings to choose from, our selections range from natural woods to 23k gold, welded steel to hand-tooled leather, ultra-contemporary to period reproductions, and everything in between. In addition to the standards, we carry many lines that you will not find most other places – hand carved and hand finished by artisans here in the U.S., with unique designs that will give you a totally personal look for your art and your walls. Our vast molding selection is the palette we use when designing framing. If there is something you can think of that you don’t see in our shop, we can either get it, or create it. We also design and finish some of our own frames in house. We can customize a finish on an existing molding and/or create moldings of our design for a specific piece. We are not limited to what is on our walls!

Early photo of the moon. Custom picture framing. — Early photograph of the moon. Framed with handcrafted white gold frame.

We are honored to have numerous clients from all around the country. If you’re coming to Ashland for a visit, please don’t hesitate to bring your framing projects with you – or ship them ahead and design them while you’re here. And if you are not planning a trip to Ashland, we can work on designs via email. We have a special visualization software that enables us to come up with several design options and create a virtual finished piece for you to view on your computer at home. This software allows us to explore the design process in depth and help you to see just how a piece will look when it’s finished. We can have conversations about your needs, wants and desires for your artwork and create the perfect solution, no matter where in world you live!

Completed framed print, designed remotely for customer in Mill Valley, Ca.

See my article from Picture Framing Magazine about working with out of town customers here.

Houston’s Custom Framing and Fine Art

280 East Hersey St., Suite #11, Ashland, OR

541.482.1983 toll free 877.566.5542

Photo Restoration

We love photos and we love fixing them! We are pleased to offer state-of-the-art photo restoration to repair and preserve those precious photos for you and your family to enjoy and treasure for years to come. Working with digital photo restoration techniques, we can take an old damaged photo and give it new life! We can also make other alterations, such as removing unwanted people or objects, changing the background to a portrait studio look, or recreating a favorite photo as a watercolor, oil painting or pop-art treatment!

Below are some examples of photo restorations that have been done.

Mountain with Yellow trees before restoration

Mountain with yellow trees after restoration

Houstons Custom Framing and Fine Art — Before

After restoration for damage and color

1. Provide us with the photo to be restored – this can be done in person, through the mail or via email for digital files. If you are providing a digital file for us to work with, either by email, on a cd or flash drive, the image must be at least 1MB for best results. The smaller the file the poorer the reproduction quality will be. Give us a call if you are not sure.

2. Tell us the specifics of what you would like done, if it is not obvious. For example an old photo of your grandparents with a large rip is an obvious fix. However, if that same photo has a person or object that you’d like to have removed, let us know – we can do that! Another example would be if there was extreme fading and you wanted the color restored. If you knew your mother’s dress was blue, but it’s faded to grey, let us know you want it blue.

3. We print your restored image in house, on the type of paper that will be the most authentic for your image. In other words, we print vintage images on a matte paper that is very similar to the original. More contemporary images, say from the 60s and 70s, will be printed on a luster (semi gloss) or glossy paper. The type of paper that your image is printed on is key in the success of the restoration. We can also print onto canvas. A good choice if you’re having a photo re-done in a stylized treatment, such as oil painting.

If you have any questions whatsoever, please give us a call. We’d love to hear from you!

4. Enjoy your restored photograph! That’s it!

For a free cost estimate and turnaround times, click here.

Houston’s Custom Framing and Fine Art

541.482.1983 or toll free - 877-566-5542

Fun Pet Portraits

Because we love them! Our pets do more than keep us company. They are a listening ear when we need to talk, a motivator for us to take a walk, a cuddling companion when we’re tired or sad and a buddy to make us laugh at just the right time – all this and more. Celebrate your special friend with a unique fun pet portrait! We offer styles that range from the whimsy of pop-art to the look of an oil painting, pastel, watercolor or “portrait studio”. We can even add fun thought bubbles!

Pop Art Mingus

Mingus, snap shot before Pop Art treatment

Mattie, before restoration

Mattie, after restoration

Your finished piece can be printed on art paper or canvas. We provide some standard framing options for simplicity and convenience. However, if you want something more custom we’re delighted to provide that something special to set it off to its maximum effect.
It’s simple to get started. All we need is a photo of your precious and some information about how you want it to look. The examples provided will give you some great ideas.

We have package pricing for the framed Pop Art portraits based on the size. Framed pieces come with an archival quality white matte with approximately 4″ of matting around the image, and a flat black frame for a contemporary look.

Prices are:

12 x 12″ (6″ cells) $350.00 Finished Frame size 22″x22″

18 x 18″ (9″ cells) $400.00 Finished Frame size 28″ x 28″

24 x 24″ (12″ cells) $600.00 Finished Frame size 34″ x 34″

We can ship anywhere! (shipping charges would be additional)

Please call us if you have any questions.

Houston’s Custom Framing and Fine Art

280 East Hersey St., Suite #11, Ashland, OR

541.482.1983 toll free 877.566.5542

Art Restoration / Appraisals

We work with a number of expert conservators for art restoration, frame and object restoration. We also work with certified art appraisers to help you value your art for insurance or sale. Please let us know if we can assist you with any or all of these needs. Thank you!

Here are a few “before” and “after” examples:

Houston’s Custom Framing and Fine Art

280 East Hersey St., Suite #11, Ashland, OR

541.482.1983 toll free 877.566.5542