Welcome to Framemakers

FRAMEMAKERS: CELEBRATING 30 YEARS

Old world craftsmanship may be rare today, but it has flourished at Framemakers for over 30 years. There a skilled team of picture framers creates a shop "where imagination meets craft" every day. Framemakers' designers are craftsmen who love what they do and have created an unusually close framing family.

Edward Wright established Framemakers in 1974 around his passion for fine woodworking and hand finishing - in a small wood frame house on Main Street in Carrboro. Current owners, Rhonda Rangeo and Verna Jarrell, artists and craftswomen both, joined him in '76 and '77 and together the three of them formed the nucleus from which Framemakers would grow. During those early years, the shop offered do-it-yourself workshops, where customers drilled, glued, and nailed their own frames together. The building was so snug that moulding had to be delivered through a window, but it did provide a delicious back yard bonus of fresh summer figs and blackberries.

1979 was a tough year. In January Edward was seriously injured while cutting firewood and suffered a broken leg, a broken arm and head injuries. He was still recovering at home when, a week or so later, the shop's fuel oil furnace caught fire and Verna and Rhonda were forced to pack up the shop and moved to a new location.

Framemakers settled in beside the recently demolished Plaza Theatres and made a home there for the next ten years. Peggy Kinney joined the shop and the intrepid foursome became an especially close working team: enjoying retreats together, taking advantage of trade shows and workshops, and generally developing their framing skill and experience. They expanded their knowledge and understanding of preservation matting and mounting techniques and decided to stock only archival materials.

Edward moved his workshop to his home basement and progressed from finishing moulding to sophisticated joinery and finishing techniques for building one-of-a-kind frames. There Rhonda, Verna and Peggy learned all aspects of handcrafting frames (splining, French polishing hardwoods, gilding, and antiquing) which allowed them to create frames that were uniquely designed to enhance their clients' artworks. Handcrafting the frame, splined like fine furniture and specially antiqued to compliment the art or object, and using the highest quality archival materials produced heirloom frames for their clients.

As Framemakers' skills advanced, the workshops also became more ambitious; customers were taught how to finish their own frames that had been spline-joined for them ahead of time. Such workshops required a lot of work to prepare and conduct, but involved customers more fully in the craft of framing. Those who participated in those workshops still remark fondly about the experience and treasure the pieces they worked so hard to create.

In 1989 Framemakers move to its current larger, more open space in Timberlyne Shopping Center north of Chapel Hill, and a new season of change ensued. Edward moved his finishing workshop to a larger space in the old mill by the Eno River, the Hillsborough Business Center, and it evolved into a wholesale business providing frames to the Ackland, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and other frame shops and galleries.

Edward, who had at one time wanted to be a minister (and had in fact performed Verna's wedding ceremony in 1978) once again demonstrated support for his staff which is uncommon these days. The shop bolstered Verna when, due to an inherited condition, she needed nearly two years to prepare for, endure, and recover from a liver transplant. Rhonda managed the shop while Verna recovered and gradually came back to work, at which time they found themselves running the retail business of Framemakers. They officially became owners of Framemakers in January 1997, and Edward established his workshop as Frames By Edward Wright.

Today, Verna is 17 years beyond her transplant and amazes her doctors with how little medication she needs. She and Rhonda share the running of Framemakers which allows them to pursue their various other interests. Verna's specialties are many: textiles, calligraphy, memorabilia, and "the impossible"; while Rhonda enjoys designing for 3-dimensional objects, mirrors to fit a certain space, faux finishes, "the unusual", and year round gardening. Edward and his staff have developed the workshops into an in depth apprenticeship program, and offer frame finishing workshops as a unique learning experience for people with mental health needs.

At Framemakers, you might meet Rhonda or Verna or one of three full time framers and designers: Joseph Keasler, master frame joiner and drymount king, actor and entertainer; Jamie Hagenberger, ace mat cutter, gonzo fitter, a graduate of UNC in photography, and volunteer with the Ackland Art Museum; or Ali Linwood who brings over four years' experience in handfinishing in the Frames by Edward Wright workshop and is a poet and musician. Their work is supported by Keilayn Skutvik who has been framing for years and is experienced with art media of all sorts.

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942-3291
1129 Weaver Dairy Rd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

M-F 10-5:30 Sat 10-4
Other times by appointment
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