I have having my art framed by the Starving Artist for 35+ years. Their work is nothing less great! A+. The proprietors, Jean and Bill, are great people. Honest, kind and truly professional. They are as is their business an asset to our community for 50 years. read more

We have been going to Bill and Jean Ross for our framing needs for over 10 years. I would highly recommend them. Jean's eye for color and selecting the right frame is impeccable. Bill's work on restoring two of my Uncle's old Chinese brush stroke paintings have been nothing short of miraculous. Bill painstakingly peeled off the mat from the painting from 40 years ago, restored the frame that Uncle had built and replaced the glass with archival glass to protect the painting. It turned out amazing! Through the years, we have had them frame our diplomas, paintings we brought from abroad. It has always done professionally and with care. read more

Inquired from Bill about emulating a frame that is very large and difficult to find. He told me he could acquire something similar to what I was requesting and gave me some pricing (didn't ask him about pricing) When I replied to his email and asked if he had pictures of the frame he was positioning to sell this is the response I received: "We reviewed your request over the "Framer Hotline" and found you are requesting a bid from many framers, For this reason we are not interested in providing a frame." Yes, I am asking other local framing places if they make a specific frame (6' by 8' in pink)... not something people typically have in stock or can produce - which I am being told by many that they cannot make a frame with these requirements. Plus, I need this pretty fast so no... I am not going to one by one ask each framing company and then wait for their response before going to another place (which still might be breaking the rules of Bill) It is not only tasteless to respond this way to a customer who is only asking if they had something in stock with specific requirements and to send an image but it is offensive to assume I am out looking for bids when this is not necessarily the case. Either way though, wouldn't you go to more than one place if you are looking for a couch and willing to spend money but would like to find the best fit? Not that I even asked him, but when did asking for a quote even become an issue? Why waste anyones time if it is way out of our budget? Sorry, but this company deserves this review to be posted after assuming and accusing a customer of doing something that was not the case at all and either way not even a bad thing if his accusation was even accurate! "Framer Hotline" LOL...okay - that's working out for them. read more

Bill and his wife took a 66-year-old photo of my Dad that I had been carrying in my wallet for 52 years...restored it, blew it up to poster size, framed and copied it (for the Grandkids). Bill also went to Home Depot and bought materials which he used to fashion a shipping case so that I could ship it to my Dad on his 90th birthday. Because of Bill's care and service we were able to get all of this done quickly and ship in plenty of time prior to the celebration. Bill and his wife are very good at what they do and most importantly give great care to their customers. Starving Artist gets my highest recommendation. Pride of workmanship is very evident at Starving Artists. Go here for your picture and framing needs! read more

Update to my prior 1 star review: After I asked the owner to notify me (in advance) when they would be at the store to collect mail, the owner sent me an email (which I previously referenced in my review) saying they would be there the next morning. I get about 300 emails a day and sometimes I do not see every email until I spend hours going through them. I saw the owner's email at 1pm the next day, at which point I contacted the owner and asked if they had brought my package back inside because I had missed their 10am-12 noon window. The owner said "no" and acknowledged dumping my photos and framed pictures in a box UNATTENDED outside at their storefront door in an area of town that is KNOWN to have drug dealers and drug addicts and homeless people all over. In fact, this area is the epicenter of 911 calls for Costa Mesa for drug overdoses, drug-related offenses, and rehabilitation center-related issues. I know this for a fact because my stepmother is an ER nurse and I used to live near this location. In 2017 and 2018, I used to see drug addicts cooking and shooting up drugs right outside this store in the parking lot by the owner's car and my car when I was there. The owner and I discussed how bad the area had become on many occasions. Over the years, the owner has done a lot of work for me and charged me over $10,000 for framing work - so his pretending now that there was some issue as to my "abandonment" or as to some "unpaid" work is ridiculous. The owner failed to get every single frame style I liked because those styles were discontinued by the manufacturers. This is an ongoing problem for this business - that they have frames but not all of them are still currently manufactured. So after multiple attempts to order frames I had chosen, I finally asked the owners to pick something that they could actually get and that they thought would look good. They agreed to do that but never followed up. In fairness, the owner's rude and volatile temperament made me want to avoid dealing with him and returning until they had figured out a solution to the framing problem. They never did, and therefore I gave up, asking for my belongings back. I was very happy when the owner (in response to my query) had located the photos and framed photos in their storage. When the lockdown came, I got an email from them saying that after the lockdown ended, I would have to wait (for weeks or possibly months) to get an appointment to retrieve my belongings. Therefore I asked the owner to let me know when they would be around to collect mail, because if I came by WEARING A MASK AND STAYING IN MY CAR they could either put them in the back of the car or else outside the door ONCE THEY SAW ME THERE. I never told them I wanted any person to person contact with them, and I never asked the owner to dump my photos and framed work outside for homeless and/or drug dealers to steal. If anything, I wanted to avoid dealing with the owner's irritable temperament and bitterness. After the owner told me the package was taken within an hour of him leaving it outside (which just confirms how bad the area is), I went and spoke to many homeless and drug dealers that day and night and offered a $100 reward for my stolen belongings. I met the homeless lady who sleeps in the adjacent parking lot and the homeless man who lives in the corner bushes of the Starving Artist parking lot. I scoured the area between Del Mar Avenue and 22nd Avenue along Newport Blvd. for 5 hours that day and into the wee hours of the morning. I found a (torn up) brown wrapper (with my name on it) that the owner had apparently used to wrap my belongings in the garbage can in front of Circle K in that retail complex (corner of Newport Blvd. and Wilson). Also, I found two torn photos of my family's (deceased) dogs in the bushes strewn along Newport Blvd. near 22nd Avenue. Net/Net: This business has gone downhill and the owner's passive-aggressive behavior, and recalcitrant refusal to simply put the package outside ONCE he knew I was there (thus ensuring safe transfer) is reprehensible. These pictures meant a lot to me or else I would never have been willing to pay $300 per picture to frame them. Remember this is an order that would have cost me around $1000. The owner knew these photos were important and yet displayed unforgivable malice. God help anyone who trusts them with anything of importance. read more

I'm SO glad that I went with Jean. She did a fantastic job in creating my mat boards! I'm a student at IDI and we were provided several companies of mat cutters to select from. She's detailed, very experienced, precise, personable and a pleasure to work with. I would definitely recommend any mat cutting and framing here. read more

I respect people who love their craft. Thank you for doing a wonderful job on my photos.

Jean and Bill really know their stuff, and are so friendly! They will help you get the RIGHT frame for your piece, even when you're a bit lost as to what the right frame is! There have been several times I've been over to a friends home, seen a nice piece of art on the walls, commented on the frame, only to find out Jean and Bill at Starving Artist helped them too! They really are the best - give them a try to find out! read more

We have used The Starving Artist for all our framing for many years. It started when they were by the Vons on 17th St and my nephew put his foot through an oil painting I'd inherited (thatt's a long story) and I stopped by to see if it could be repaired. Jean handled the whole thing, sending it off to some expert who does work for local museums. We like to turn her lose with our work as she has a much better eye than we do. Everything she has ever framed for us, and there has been a wide variety of things, has turned out beautifully. Among them has been a 200-year old sampler, needlework, animation cels, lithographs, photographs and snapshots, assembled puzzles, army medals and posters. They can frame anything and make the weirdest things look special. And they will do it in accordance with its value in your eyes. As in heirlooms with little market value are treated as well as really valuable artwork. They also have work for sale and we've bought some nice things from them. read more