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Meet the Award Winning

Picture Framing Team

Kevin Nihill Zoe Nihill Carshalton Wallington Eagle Gallery Picture Framing
Kevin Nihill

Kevin Nihill

Eagle Gallery Picture Framing was established on Epsom High Street in 1993, with the grand ambition of offering a quality framing service. We have constantly offered the most extensive selection of picture frames, mount designs & glass choice to our local customers to help create that perfect frame display.

We have moved a few times during the years. The last relocation from Carshalton to Wallington came in September 2015 when a successful move away from the High Street was announced when Kevin & Zoe took ownership.


Eagle Gallery Picture Framing is now placed within a listed converted stable next to Beddington Park, Wallington on the border of Croydon. At this ideal location we gain considerable space and benefit from private customer parking.

Over the years we have triumphantly entered many framing awards, and our name has become synonymous with quality design throughout Surrey & London.

Eagle Gallery Picture Framing is a family business. We are Kevin & Zoe, Husband & Wife team who both have a background in art. 

 

 

While studying for many years, Kevin found his artwork was always moving in a different direction to the other students.

He started working on large & unorthodox three-dimensional pieces & becoming drawn to the more bizarre, controversial side of the art world. 

 

Over the years he found himself attending meetings on subjects like Urban Street Art & meeting at gatherings with people who created Crop Circles. He became fascinated by not only the work but how the artists feedback, results & development came mainly from the general public's reaction.

 

To Kevin, the Artwork had to be three dimensional & somewhat abnormal. 

He started to create more three-dimensional work & eventually improving his DIY skills became more important than developing his painting & drawing abilities.

 

These skills Kevin obtained & his love of different arts he says put him where he is today. Mixing the two together seems to be a perfect match to release Kevin's creativity.

 

"I've been framing for over 25  years & I still really enjoy creating something from scratch and seeing that end result & the reaction of the person for whom it's for"

 

"Instead of creating a piece of artwork to gain a reaction, I now enjoy taking someones artwork, memorabilia or an item they treasure and enhancing the piece with creative custom picture framing"

 

Kevin as been fortunate to work in some great jobs over the past 20 years & in varied areas of production.

 

While he was at college he was either working behind a bar or painting and decorating for Westminster Decorators in London and was involved in some lavish jobs which needed the highest of detail finishing.

 

He started picture framing while working at Design Animations London. As a member of the technical staff, he was responsible for the design and production of Perspex picture frames using acrylic fabrication. 

 

He moved onto more traditional picture framing when he was offered the chance to work for the GX Gallery Camberwell. Here he was chucked in the deep end but soon learned all aspects of custom framing & was running the Streatham branch within months.

 

During a short period away from framing Kevin took a job at Price Kitchens Croydon in quality control. He had the responsibility of checking the bespoke kitchen units for damage to a very high standard.

 

He came back to framing at Artefact Framers London where he was involved in all aspects of preparation for hand-finished frames including learning how to gesso. He was also involved in the installation & hanging of work in hotels, offices & residential premises including the whole Royal Horse Guards Parade Hotel Whitehall.

 

He moved on from here highly skilled in making frames & enjoying the work immensely. He was then lucky enough to work for one of the most respected framers in the UK, at The Eagle Gallery, David Wilkie. Where he learnt the more creative side of picture framing.

He worked with David for over six years & says he learnt more in those years then the previous ten. 

In these years Kevin was introduced to the picture framing competitions which happen annually. Kevin enjoys the competitions & finds its a way to show how creative you really are & believes the finished items are great example pieces for customers to see.

 

Kevin took over the Eagle Gallery from David in 2015 & relocated the business a mile from the previous Carshalton High Street location to an area on the edge of Beddington Park in Wallington called Stables Yard in The Brandries. 

 

Kevin won the prestigious Fine Art Trade Guild Framing Awards in 2016 Picking up Both the national awards which included Best Mount Design and The Guild Framing Challenge.

Then defended the title by winning Best Mount Design again in 2017.

 

 

Zoe Nihill
Zoë Nihill

Zoë has a great eye for design and enjoys the process of enhancing items that we receive for framing.  Zoë takes pleasure in the challenge of taking in an item and designing  a fitting and lasting item of furniture.

 

Zoë has always had a keen interest in art and photography. Inspired by the world around her and encouraged by those close to her, Zoë found her creativity blossomed as she grew up.

With a passion for travelling, Zoë has been captivated by the rich diversity of cultural arts she has encountered on her travels. From street art to fine art she is fascinated by the many forms of artistic expression around the world.

For her final exam piece, she chose to do a glass painting which didn’t sit too well with her teacher and was quite experimental but certainly paid off, becoming a lasting hobby. She went on to study Art & Design at Esher College in Surrey but felt restricted by the bland nature of the rigidly planned out lessons which centred mainly on still life and acrylic paint. Zoë found her creative side flourished once she was out of the college classroom and had the freedom to experiment with an array of different media and techniques.

Beginning full-time work as a Nursery Nurse Zoë found pleasure in leading creative activities with the children and displaying their artwork. During her time there she was often allocated duties such as painting Murals on the nursery walls and creating posters.

Taking great pleasure in sketching Zoë has done many portrait and pet sketches for family and friends. She is also a keen photographer, inspired over the years by her father who has captured so many beautiful memories through the lens.

 

Zoë met Kevin in 2004 and they married in 2008. Kevin introduced her to picture framing when they began their exciting new venture running Eagle Gallery Framing.
 

 

Moving frame shops

EPSOM Carshalton Wallington

Eagle Gallery Framing was established in Epsom in 1993 and later moved to Carshalton High Street in 2003.

 

In July 2015 we settled into our current premises, a large modern space combined with an old converted Stables which together serves ideally as our studio and workshop. We are situated next door to Beddington Park, Wallington, in the London Borough of Sutton.

 

Our final move in 2015 was an extraordinarily big step for us, we took on the challenging task of moving away from the High Street where the shop had been for 12 years. 

 

We visited numerous premises, eventually taking on and refurbishing a listed run-down brick stable building.

 

The stables were historically part of Beddington Park and the Brandries Hill House collection of outbuildings. The location became the perfect blank canvas to convert into our studio and workshop. 

 

The building itself was in need of a lot of attention, it had been rather neglected after previously being used as a landscape gardeners, mechanics and an electrical testing unit. The buildings potential was very promising and even though the premises required a great deal of work compared to the other places we had viewed, the selling point for us was the generous space, peaceful location and onsite customer parking. 

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