About Gesso & Bole

My name is Michael Renouf. My passion for picture framing and an appreciation of art began in the small British Channel Island of Jersey where I grew up. When I was a teenager I was given a work experience placement at a local picture framing shop and what started as a two week placement developed into a desire to make picture framing my full-time career.

After completing my studies at university, I moved to London, England to work for a highly regarded picture framer in the city where I gained many valuable new skills and worked on projects for internationally recognised artists and galleries. 

When I moved to Ottawa, Canada, I decided that I wanted to open my own picture framing business to allow me to express my creativity and unique thinking to produce truly one-of-a-kind frames. I created Gesso & Bole with the ambition of allowing artists, galleries and individuals the opportunity to design the perfect frame or display solution to complement and enhance their artwork and maximize its impact when displayed. Through a large range of custom mouldings, endless varieties of colours and finishes combined with out-of-the-box thinking, I believe that I can create the perfect frame for any artwork or object. ​

For inspiration and to view a small selection of our previous work please visit our Framing Gallery.