I’m pretty spoiled by good customer service — I shop in Old Town a lot. So it’s a nice surprise when I go to a new business and they wow me. Wheaton’s Art and Framing Gallery in Mason did just that.

Occasionally when you buy art directly from the artist, the frame isn’t the best quality and/or the canvas isn’t stretched properly. I have two beloved framed paintings by a local artist that weren’t aging very well. The frames were coming apart at the edges and one of the canvases was beginning to buckle on the side. Before the damage progressed too far, I wanted to get them repaired, but I was worried that the cost of the repairs would be more than the original price of the paintings. An artist friend suggested taking them to Wheaton’s.

I wish I had taken a “before” photo. The back of the pictures looks as beautiful as the front.

When I dropped the paintings off, I was stunned to learn the cost would be 10-20% of what I had expected to pay. When I asked if I could keep the existing frames because that was the intention of the artist, owner Bernie Camp agreed to take them apart and rebuild them. When I picked them up over a month later, he didn’t even ask who I was, he just went straight to the back and picked up my order. Then he charged me less than the already very low price when he saw I was going to pay cash. I would wonder how he is able to make a living if I didn’t know that he has major clients like MSU and Sparrow Hospital Systems.

The work is beautifully done. The frames were rebuilt and the canvases were restretched so you can’t see where a crease was forming. The craftsmanship on the back of the pieces is just as fine as the front. If you have a special something you’ve been wanting to get framed, I can’t recommend Wheaton’s highly enough.

In addition to custom framing, Wheaton’s is an art gallery, with a variety of pieces by local artists for sale. Bernie will fill you in on the available stock, which includes works by Michigan artists Mary Gillis and Mark Mehaffey.