Orion Custom Framing

Falling more in love with our Polk St studio every day! We are coming up on 10 months since we opened the doors to our Russian Hill studio, and we couldn’t be happier! The outpouring of support and love has been overwhelming! We are proud to be a part of this thriving neighborhood that is still just growing and turning into something really special. A huge part of my dream of starting my own shop was to create jobs and spread our passion for framing as far as we can! Opening this second location to expand our fresh take on a traditional craft is a huge step! I have dedicated my entire life to picture framing and to see my dream and vision be understood and received so openly is just mind blowing! I am so proud and so humbled for the chance to live my dream and I don’t take that opportunity lightly. I promise to keep doing everything exactly how I’ve been doing it, following my heart and trusting my gut. If you’re reading this than you’re a part of this and I love you!

BIG NEWS, AUSTIN! We are so excited to officially announce the Grand Opening of our brand new Austin studio! We’ve been working tirelessly setting up our beautiful new space and we can’t wait to show you! We have the biggest selection of frames you’ve ever seen! Our selection covers everything from hand carved, fully custom profiles to cost-effective wooden frames. All of our materials and techniques are preservation level so your art is always safe. We love making art and framing approachable and actually fun! We say YES to everything and pride ourselves on our creative problem solving! We will be open for business starting June 1st, 11-5 seven days a week! Please join us for our Grand Opening Party, June 6th from 6p-9p! We will host rotating art shows featuring local artists on our gallery wall. We are thrilled to present @skotoart ’s solo exhibition “Genesis” for our inaugural show! His portrait work is so surreal and striking, it just draws you right in. We’ll have food & drinks and endless hugs & smiles! Please join us and help our small family business by spreading the word!

This is my whole dream come true! It’s been almost two years and I still can’t believe it’s real! I think a lot times when we see a local business we don’t always think about everything that’s gone into creating it and what it means. My name is Micah Ruiz and I’ve been picture framing for over 22 years, that’s more than half my life! I’ve dedicated my life to my craft and I’m still just getting more passionate and growing all the time. I’ve worked every aspect of the framing industry and I’m even a contributing writer for Picture Framing Magazine! I opened my shop in Bernal Heights June, 2022 wanting to bring new energy and life to the industry I love so much! I want to create beautiful designs that protect and beautify art. I want to create jobs and opportunities for artisans and craftspeople to be successful and pursue their dreams, too, and make a difference that makes my children proud of me. I’m completely overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and projects and love! Thank you thank you thank you!

Fine, suture self We love framing fiber art and @benvenom ’s work is really something special! San Francisco based artist Ben Venom works with repurposed materials to create textile-based pieces. He contrasts the often menacing and aggressive counterculture components of punk/metal music, and skateboarding with the comforts of domesticity. This collision of traditional quilting techniques with elements tied to the fringes of society re-envisions the story of the material through a softer lens. The reclaimed fabrics used in his work contain a multitude of personal histories and every unexplained stain, tear, or rip is included. These salvaged pieces are sewn into a larger narrative and become a part of a collective history within the work. We hand stitched the quilted piece to an acid-free mat so anytime down the line the art could be removed from the frame without causing any damage to the work. We used a linen mat to continue the fabric texture in a soft white tone to maintain a modern feel. We used a whitewash ash to bring wood grain and warmth in a subtle color that doesn’t distract from the work. We used anti-reflective acrylic to keep the piece preserved and presented at the highest level of clarity and protection!

Lookin like a million Dahlias We love all the texture and detail in this handmade print of Mexico‘s national flower! Lili Arnold is a Santa Cruz-based printmaker and illustrator specializing in botanical block prints. After studying printmaking at UCSC she fell in love with the process of creating multiples and tapping into the tactile satisfaction of working with her hands. She spent the following years working as a graphic designer but soon rekindled her love for printmaking as a weekend hobby. As her creative priorities continued to shift she transitioned into making prints full-time and has since been on a journey of inspiration and appreciation of the natural world. We wanted the frame design to be as organic, timeless, and hand crafted as the art! Walnut was a great choice to pull on the rich undertone and contrast the greens and pinks throughout! We floated the art to expose the beautiful paper the print was made on and create depth. We used Optium Museum Acrylic so you can see every detail without glare and the piece is preserved forever!

Let’s give em something to Tako bout We love the intense style of Japanese kite art! This traditional folk art from northern Japan was often used on kites (tako) to represent power and ward off evil spirits. The poster blends this classical Japanese motif with the more modern aesthetic of the early 1980s San Francisco Bay Area arts scene. This is an original vintage poster from a wonderful night of music with some heavy hitters of the time! We loved the idea of blending traditional and modern with the frame design, too! This beautiful two-tone frame is made from solid maple and walnut joined together with traditional techniques to create these perfect rounded corners with just the right angle to pull on the shapes in the image. The walnut outside line feels like the heavy line work in the art! We floated the poster to expose the age and condition and give it a modern feel. We used Optium Museum Acrylic to keep the piece of Bay Area history preserved and the colors and eyes popping forever!

Rain supreme Love the juxtaposition between the gentle, flowy painting and the rigid, structured frame! Our client wanted give his daughter’s art the royal treatment! We floated the painting to expose the character and shape of the paper its created on. We used an off-white mat to soften the transition from the warm paper to the wood. Walnut was the perfect choice to highlight the color throughout without picking just one! The frame fits perfectly into our clients modern space with a mid-century lean. We used Optium Museum Acrylic to cut the weight in half of glass, preserve the art, and get rid of all the glare!

In the interest of full transparency We were so drawn to the striking colors and fluid movement of this multimedia piece by @nadia.attura ! This piece is part of an underwater series she created from photos she took of California’s iconic coastline and the abundant marine life of the Pacific. Nadia’s original photographs of the beautifully mesmerizing jellyfish were taken on location at Monterey Bay and then collaged together using paint, chalk and pencil overlaid to produce the final limited edition artworks. We wanted the frame design to have that same organic movement and warmth. We used a round corner maple frame to highlight the colors throughout the piece without competing for your eye. We used a large 8ply mat to give the art some breathing room and create a sharp modern edge. We used Optium Museum Acrylic to preserve the colors and see every detail without a glare!

Cats always throwing shade We love the dark, whimsical feel of @pigeons.grotto ’s work! We were really drawn to her dramatic, exaggerated imagery, and we wanted to continue that with the framing! We mounted the stretched canvas onto a fabric lined panel. The deep purply-red silk really pulls on that nighttime feel and the texture really sets it off! This handmade frame is a thing of dreams! The antique gold is the perfect tone to highlight the background colors and allow that light to really shine! We used Optium Museum Acrylic to keep the painting clean and preserved for nine lives!

Keep it symbol We are so excited because today is the official opening of the first permanent Ruth Asawa venue in San Francisco in honor of her centennial, offering exclusive public access to rarely seen works. We had the honor of framing several pieces including this beautiful take on her famous logo that shows up across her work over the years by Ruth’s own granddaughter @lillilanier ! This paper and wood piece consists of hundreds and hundreds of meticulously folded origami to create this intricate image this changes as you move around it! Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc. (RAL, Inc.), a family-run entity dedicated to supporting the career and legacy of artist Ruth Asawa (1926-2013), is opening a 1,714-square-foot ground-floor exhibition space at @minnesotastreetproject ! They will host rotating exhibitions of Asawa’s work, including looped- and tied-wire sculptures, paintings, drawings, cast sculptures, prints, sketchbooks, and community-oriented projects, spanning her six-decade career. Organized by family members, friends, and world-renowned curators, exhibitions will offer the public a rare opportunity to view lesser-known and never-before-seen works, much of which has never been publicly exhibited, alongside work by her friends, including Josef and Anni Albers, Imogen Cunningham, Ray Johnson, and others. They will also host an annual exhibition for students and faculty from the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, continuing Asawa’s legacy as an arts advocate and educator. Ruth’s legacy and reputation live on so proudly in SF and we are thrilled to be a part! 🙏🏽 @ruthasawaofficial forever!

If you feel so inclined I’m such a sucker for geometric art! We always have so much fun working with our good friends at @alisondamonte ! We love the texture and tone in this piece and wanted the framing to feel like a continuation of the work. We used a thick, beveled, greywash maple that feels like it was pulled straight from the art! We floated the drawing to show the entire piece on a warm white mat to feel fresh and new next to the aged paper without being too jarring. We used Optium Museum Acrylic to preserve the piece in the most beautiful and safe way possible!

The curtain is drawn We love all the drama and texture in @shawn_huckins breathtaking work! This piece was part of Huckins’ solo exhibition, Moonrise in a Clear Heaven. This exhibition highlights a series of hyperrealistic oil and acrylic paintings that examine the interplay between materiality, light, and contemporary visual culture. Huckins’ meticulous renderings transform everyday materials-draped satin, crumpled mylar, and reflective surfaces-into luminous compositions that question perception and invite contemplation. Whitewash maple provides just right amount of pinky warmth to draw you into the highlights colors in the drapes and in the sky. The natural wood grain feels like the organic shapes in the curtains and plays on movement pulling your eye all around the art. We used an 8ply mat to create a breathing room between the frame and image allowing to both to stand in their own while harmonizing. We used Optium Museum Acrylic to keep the piece preserved and presented with no glare so you don’t lose any of the amazing detail!