by Shanna Kunz
Just one block off the beaten path of Historic 25th Street in Ogden, Utah, is the first-class, family-owned and operated Bartholomew’s Fine Art and Frame Gallery. Bartholomew’s is a full-service fine art, frame, and art restoration gallery that provides quality framing services to serious art collectors as well as novice art lovers.
Lee Bartholomew is the owner/manager of the framing and fine art gallery while his mother, Debra, is the shop’s art conservator and restoration expert — one of only a very few in the western United States. John has been a cabinet maker and owner of a mill, where he gained his expertise in woods, finishes, and fittings.
The Bartholomew frame shop carries higher-end frames from all over the world, including Italian handmade moldings from Roma, LaMarche, and Genuine Gold and Burl, as well as more budget-minded frames. Lee incorporates all the most current archival procedures in matting, glass, and supplies. He also has a strong art and art history background that has helped him develop an eye for design, and he feels that giving his clientele his personal touch gives each piece its best value.
Lee was an architecture student at BYU Idaho, where he started building frames for his own artwork. He fell in love with the process. He started as a senior frame shop manager for another local shop and enjoyed the customer relations so well that he started his own business with a wonderful clientele. His vision for a gallery was to find the finest local artisans in an area rich with talent to exhibit and merge with his own services. The result is a relationship that is supportive to the artists of this area and to the community.
Bartholomew’s Gallery carries an array of contemporary and traditional fine art and crafts — the latter of which includes such as ceramics artist Suzanne Storer, glass artist Cathy Cartwright, wood turning artist Joe Deru, silk artist Roberta Glidden, and potters Craig Hasser, Claudia Van Wagoner and Kevin Parsons. The gallery carries the work of painters Brandon Cook, Kelly Donovan, Doug Braithwaite, Shanna Kunz, Kevin Wasden, Greg Lloyd Batt, Eric Zieschie, and Jerry Hancock. For images of the work in the gallery, see www.bartholomewgallery.com.
Debra Bartholomew has had years of experience in art restoration and maintenance. She recently completed a course in archival restoration from highly acclaimed conservator, Carol Carney. There are only about two or three conservators who graduate each year and less than a half-dozen people on the West Coast who have learned these restoration skills. The conservator must clean, patch holes, clean mold, and repair smoke or fire damage and damage caused by folding or rolling a painting. Debra has mastered the skills of lining a canvas and stabilizing the paint so that a painting doesn’t deteriorate further. She also must maintain the integrity of the piece, and the original concept of the artist, putting aside any personal style. Many times, she must research the artist and his/her style, the time period of the piece and the history of the painting.
work before and after restoration
Together Lee and Debra Bartholomew have created a unique business providing valuable services both to the local Ogden community as well as the entire Wasatch Front. Bartholomew Fine Art and Framing is located at: 206 24th St. Ogden, UT (801) 334-7911.
UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Categories: Gallery Spotlights | Visual Arts