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As in all construction, whether it be houses or art, starting with a firm foundation is essential to ensuring that your work will survive the test of time. Since 1967, John Annesley and his family have been handcrafting fine art supports, stretcher bars and art panels for many of the world's museums and influential artists. His stretcher bars and panels have been used by museums and restoration experts to retrofit cherished works by Picasso, Cezanne, Monet, Matisse and Van Gogh to name but a few.

Hand Crafted Stretcher Bars and Panels

"As a painter myself, I've learned that as artists we all have similar issues and problems and by being able to talk with artists and art professionals on a daily basis for the past thirty-plus years, I've been able to find solutions to a great many problems facing painters, conservators, and other art professionals. I've learned a lot from my customers--they've helped design all of my products. That's why I'm able to make what are arguably the world's finest art supports. These aren't boilerplate designs, they're finely crafted and honed to meet the most demanding needs of the finest conservators and painters in the world: YOU." - John Annesley

At John Annesley Company we handcraft fine art supports -- traditional wood keyed stretcher bars, expansion bolt stretchers, cradled panels and strainers in a variety of styles. We have standard as well as custom sizes, inclusive of fractional and metric measurements.

New on the John Annesley Site

-The website now has prices listed for many of the products we make. Of course, everything is still made-to-order so you can get any size you want.

Digital Grange - The John Annesley Company has established a connection with the digital printing world. We've seen that digital printing has had phenomenal growth each year - every where you turn, there it is. It made me start thinking about the Grange Movement from the 1800s. It started in England and spread to America. People who made things and grew things could get together to sell their product and purchase materials together - a producers cooperative or co-op. Almost every city and town in America has a Grange building paid for by the locals by paying a small membership fee to the Grange, The farmers sold their crops bought their seed and animal feed ,traded with one another. They sold their arts and crafts. So the idea is of a Digital Grange, The digital Commons, our websites, where we buy and sell our wares, and trade in Life's mysterious pleasures. To bring this into focus is Bill Kane, formerly of Skylark Images, who is the best known and premier digital printer in Northern California. He's teamed up with Joe McDonald, the master photographer and printer for the Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco, the de Young and the Legion of Honor. Joe's been making fine art catalogs for years and also teaches a 16-week digital photography class at Santa Rosa Junior College. He realized he could compress most of this information into two weekends - giving all the info that an artist would need in concise workshops at the studio. The dream comes together at The Digital Grange in Petaluma. Of course, all the art needs to be mounted or stretched and framed, plus supplies are need, so John Annesley Company is helping to fill that need.

- "Ask John" has a new entry - "You quoted me a price for a floating frame with a solid color (black)? Why is there such a high premium for solid color?" Click here to see John's reply.

- Lance has a great array of "how-to" movies about the best stretching technique and how to fold canvas/linen corners. Click Here to visit the MySpace site.

-Excellent Resource for You - Golden Artist Colors publishes a newsletter that can be received on-line as a PDF or via snail mail. One of their past issues has an article by our friend, Conservator James Bernstein, titled "A Remarkable Way to Stretch Canvases". This excellent article should be a must read for any artist who assembles painting surfaces. To find it Click Here.

"I have found that one of the big benefits of my job is the opportunity to see how many artists work. There are many differences and many similarities". - John Annesley
There's some artist studio tours on our website that allow all artists to see how and where some artists create their work."

Functional Art Supports

We use only the best materials available and incorporate carefully conceived design to provide strong, functional art supports and sell our stretcher bars as sets with bracing included. If the stretcher bars are small enough to ship to you assembled, we will. If not, we trial assemble each bar set to ensure perfect workmanship and fit, and then disassemble it for shipping. This way we can guarantee every stretcher bar set will be perfect.

The bodies of our stretchers, strainers and panels are made from clear, kiln-dried basswood, a very strong and durable hardwood. It is very stable as compared to other woods used in art support manufacture. Basswood is surprisingly light in weight and provides an excellent tacking edge for the stretching of fabric. It doesn't harden or become brittle with age, unlike many of the woods used for stretcher bars on the market today.

Our attention to detail shows by the way we craft each joint and incorporate well designed bracing. This assures that your work will be safe for the long-term and sit flat against any wall without any twisting, sagging or warping.

Our Art Supports are Beautiful

Our customers are constantly telling us that our art supports are beautiful--the best they have encountered. More than a few have expressed the urge to display our products as works of art in and of themselves. Our customers have found that using high quality materials makes their job easier and their results better, whether they are art conservators, or artists.

We also offer a line of fine European linens and cotton canvas hand stretched on our supports or by the yard. We offer discounts on the professional line of Golden acrylic paints and mediums and Gamblin oil paints and mediums. Our professional art supplies product line is rounded out with custom made floater frames and other framing, as well as our own line of canvas pliers.

Professional Art Supplies

"If you have special design needs, or questions, don't hesitate to contact me. I've been working with people on art related projects most of my life and have a very capable shop and staff. And if I can't help you, I know someone who can, and will gladly refer you. We're here, call or e-mail us." - John Annesley

John Asks YOU- - - -

We all want everything in life to be better, faster and cheaper, but I still want to ask - What can I do for you? How can we improve our products? The answers to these questions can help John Annesley Company and our fine artist customers navigate our way into the New World of the future. So with our head in the clouds, and our hopes high in the air, God Bless everyone. - John

Many of our regular customers place their orders via email. This is convenient, provides a written record, and we can confirm by email. Via email we send price quotes, shipping quotes and arrange for alternate payment, like paying by check or electronic funds transfer via PayPal. The majority of our customers are repeat customers, individuals who we've been happy to serve over the years. They in turn refer their friends and colleagues. We've grown by word of mouth, that's the best advertising, almost our only advertising. We need your help to survive so we go out of our way to please you.

"Ask John"

You're encouraged to e-mail John with your questions - every couple weeks we'll post some of the questions and answers. Some of the past questions John has answered can be be read on the site's FAQs page.

"Endorsements"

Sent: Mon 28/12/09 8:37 AM
Dear John Annesley,
As I was carrying a painting in London down Picadilly to the Royal Academy of Arts, I was stopped by so many people, especialy artists. Actually, they were not so much interested in the front of my painting as the back - they all admired your beautiful, practical, and sturdy stretcher bars. As one passer-by said, "This is a fine piece of furniture!"
I would never buy my stretchers anywhere else!
Many thanks for your great work,
Monroe Hodder

From: Jocelyn Audette
Sent: Mon 04/01/10 5:27 PM
Subject: Fwd: Jocelyn Audette has recommended you on LinkedIn
Dear John,
I've written this recommendation of your work to share with other LinkedIn users.
Details of the Recommendation: "John has built wood panels, canvas and linen supports, and even repaired a damaged painting on linen, putting it on a new stretcher. In every case he's done the highest quality work. And, he's a heck of a nice guy! Definitely worth the price!!!"
Service Category: art panels and stretchers
Year first hired: 2000 (hired more than once)
Top Qualities: Great Results, Personable, Expert