Downtown Waxhaw is gradually becoming a small-town mecca for artists, from the culinary to the fine arts. And since 2008, Dave and Jane Hunt’s Divine Custom Frame and Eight Legs Gallery has been playing a leading role. 
Ideally situated at 310 E South Main Street, the Hunts offer everything from custom framing to art lessons to gallery art pieces for purchase. For their part, Jane manages most of the back office of the business, while Dave handles the commissioned work and day-to-day requests.
Initially, The Gallery opened in 2004 under different ownership, but even at that time, Dave had volunteered during the weekend to help keep the gallery afloat. A self-taught artist, Dave maintains an interest and prowess in all mediums – oil painting, acrylics, sculpting, metals, water color, et. al. Though, his true love is in the oils, and particularly, oil landscapes.
“There isn’t any medium I don’t work in,” exclaims Dave.
Dave, along with a handful of other artists, offer classes through the gallery, each dabbling in similar mediums, but maintaining very different styles, making each class unique. Typically, they prefer private classes, but occasionally, will teach semi-private. But his clients range in age and can start as young as 12, some of whom, Dave recalls having some real talent.
The majority of their customers hail from Waxhaw and surrounding communities, namely, Indian Land, Monroe, and Weddington. And while they get a steady stream of off-the-street traffic, most of their customers are requesting their services for framing projects, which can be as collaborative a process as desired. Mouldings and mats can be selected according to the customer’s home décor, or more often than not, to match the painting itself by picking out a color and/or style that makes the art pop. Dave has seen an uptick in interest in rustic-type mouldings, which seems fitting, considering the mass appeal of TV shows like Fixer Upper and the like. 
For the Hunts, striving to be unique is a priority that’s been relatively easy to maintain, given the abundance of artists in the area. It’s also a characteristic that their customers appreciate, and have come to rely upon, as is their affordable pricing.
“We have a lot of different types of art – crazy art that’s off the wall. People can’t just come in and get a piece of art that someone else can buy too,” asserts Dave.
And with over 30 local artists to source the paintings from, plus changing over inventory every 90 days, there’s always a reason to pop in and see what’s new!
