Meet Brad and Mamie Burdic of New Bern, NC. Their hobby is piecing together artistic masterpieces in the form of puzzles. They have been framing puzzles with Bear Hands (Previously Ballentyne's Framing) since the beginning. They have over 80 framed puzzles in their home.
Mr. Burdic's first puzzle was a gift from his friend. It is a picture of his 57 Studebaker Golden Halk parked at the Union Point Gazebo.
Most of Mr. Burdic's puzzles are at least 1000 pieces; so It can take as long as 30 hours of their combined efforts to complete each puzzle.
The Burdics also enjoy creating their own custom puzzles with photos of family members as gifts.
In a span of 3 and a half years, they have filled up all of the walls of their large garage with beautifully framed puzzles. Mamie's favorites are the Thomas Kinkade puzzles. She says that they are some of the most difficult puzzles to complete. Brad likes the puzzles filled with people and life.
They hang some of the puzzles in the garage and some of them in the elevator! The Burdic's will face a challenge when they run out of room for puzzles. But they don't plan on giving up their hobby. They decided to donate a few of the older puzzles to be sold for a good cause.
Chris and Mary Kay, Framers at Bear Hands, were honored to tour the puzzle room of Mr. Burdic's home.
Sometimes, transporting the puzzles to the frame shop can be difficult. Brad once lost half of his puzzle when the wind picked up outside of our shop. Brad and Mamie, along with a few helpful bystanders, recovered almost every single piece! Only five out of the 1000 pieces remain missing. The Bear Hands Framing team painted in the empty spaces so that the gaps are nearly invisible.
Sometimes Brad still brings in puzzles with a missing piece, but usually those pieces are found around his house not long after. Once, Brad found a puzzle piece in his shoe a few weeks after it went missing.
