Creative Woodworks & crafts 1997-08, страница 72

We first met Tom Bramhill in Stevens, Pennsylvania, at last year's Scroll Saw Picnic and were immediately fascinated by his lath art paintings, which he calls Woodscapes. So compelling were his sccnic wooden renderings that we knew his work had to be featured in Creative Woodworks and Crafts. We also thought it would be valuable lo hear, from someone with firsthand experience, how a greal deal of artistic ability and a little bit of enterprise can be turned into a successful business. Toward that end, we present this interview with Tom Bramhill:

CWC: You've certainly developed a beautiful and unique art form with Woodscapes. Could you tell us a little about how it developed?

TB: The first time 1 saw this style of wooden painting, 1 was in a furniture store in North Carolina. We were on vacation j and one evening while strolling around a local mall, a wood-| en painting caught my eye. It consisted of only about nine | pieces, but it was quite attractive and the colors and lines made of separate strips of wood matched my living room decor.

CWC: So, you came upon an unusual picture that really appealed to you, what next? Did you go right home and j make one for yourself? TB: Not exactly. I ! bought that one and put | it up over my fireplace. ! But before long, I wanted | another one lor my dining room. That's when the whole Woodscapes odyssey started for me, because when 1 phoned the store in North Carolii me the company had stopped making the pictures altogether.

; CWC: Is that when you decided to make your own wood \ painting?

| TB: Yes. This was one of those moments in life that we all ■ have, where you don't realize how important your decision will eventually prove to be. 1 began my first picture. Having a background in design, the initial drawings came fairly easy. CWC: What was the result of this first attempt? TB: The first Woodscapes picture was of a maple sugar shack in the woods in spring. The scene itself forced me to adopt a more realistic style of art than the abstract, simple look of my North Carolina original. It also required a few more tones in shading and color—in fact, about three times as many. It was all very experimental, but nonetheless a lot of fun. Already 1 could feel 1 was getting hooked.

CWC: Your use of color is a big part of the appeal of your

kits. Could you tell us more about how your painting technique developed?

TB: The original picture I had purchased had been spray painted, leaving it a little opaque. I felt a thin rubbed finish would allow more wood color and grain to come through. I experimented with dyes but that was a disaster—dyes did allow the grain to be seen but also colored the wood completely! So next 1 tried thinned out artist-quality paints, brushed on then wiped off lightly, CWC: How did that work?

TB: Beautifully! ft allowed the natural color of the wood to show through the rich pigment, tones. The muted look that is now a hallmark of Woodscapes pictures was bom. CWC: How did you manage to turn artistic ability into a thriving business?

TB: I happened to be selling my home al the time. Naturally, lots of people were visiting, and as it turned out, people were much more interested in my paintings than in the house! It

seemed like every second person remarked about them. Some people wanted one for their home and asked me where they could get one. Others wanted to make one themselves and asked me about the availability of patterns, where 1 got my materials, and how to get the muted finish, etc. I decided I should make this information available, and so I began to develop the Woodscapes kit. CWC: What was the next step? How did you go about marketing the kits? TB: A few months later I decided to take my kit to ;ee if it would sell there, creo: way dearsr TB: It had occurred to me that 1 didn't know exactly who my potential customers were, or even how to reach them, so Scars seemed a pretty good place to start. CWC: How did that work out?

TB: I got very lucky. Sears liked my work and thought that their customers might also. But 1 explained I couldn't supply all of their stores, being just one guy with a scroll saw. They agreed lo let me use a couple of their stores for a test market. CWC: Was this test market successful? TB: Hie test market lasted over a year in two different stores and we sold over 500 kits in each location during that period. At this point I knew I had something that people liked, but it also soon became clear that I had a brand new problem, namely the amount of money 1 would need to continue in that league. It didn't seem to me that looking for financial partners at this time was the right course to take.

An interview with lath artist Tom Bramhill