Creative Woodworks & crafts 1997-08, страница 73

By combining talent and ingenuity, Tom Bramhill has made Woodscapes a successful enterprise. Shown here: Winter Farm.

Five Boats, one of the many Woodscapes patterns available.

CWC: What happened next?

TB: I had already had my share of good luck, but a little while later 1 got another break—a major woodworking magazine decided to do an article on my work. CWC: What effect, if any, did the magazine article have on your work?

TB: Well, my pictures had always been made using wood strips cut to 1-l/2"-wide, with a typical picture measuring 30" or more across. But the magazine formal required a maximum width of 15" across—less than half of my original, so I had to alter my paintings accordingly. CWC: How did you adapt to this constraint? TB: We tried adapting the pattern based on wood strips 3/4"-wide. ft produced a unique, and really quite attractive 'miniature woodscapc,' which as it happened, lots of people-obviously liked. Many of them wrote to inquire about other patterns and kits. This gave me the chance to introduce the full size (1-1/2") version of our pictures, and to tell them about our authentic lath frames as well. CWC: How about your paint system?

TB: In that article, the editors suggested using standard tole paints to finish the project. But when readers wrote in to me, I was able to show them our paint system and explain bow they could duplicate the original picture precisely by following the simple paint formulas supplied. CWC: How well has your paint system been received? TB: At first our special paint system proved to be a hard sell—almost everybody already had a stock of tole paints and they naturally weren't keen to spend more. This was an important lesson because it made me realize that our customers were not all alike and that we shouldn't try to change them—some

August, 1997. / : IS

of them switched to our system as soon as they saw our color promotional material, but others wanted to match the colors themselves with their own tole paints. Rather than tight it, we decided to offer all of the different Woodscapes components—patterns, paint set, and wood—individually. This seems to suit, everyone.

CWC: What's ahead? TB: The Woodscapes future looks very exciting and yet very challenging. New customers keep coming in and we've started selling to retail dealers. But. 1 believe if the quality of the art should drop amidst the pressures of growing, then in the long run wc will have completely missed the real opportunity. However, if we can keep alive the originality and freshness of (he pictures themselves, then I know people will continue to respond to this new woodcraft. And then there's no end to the good tiroes ahead.

Canada Goose, a Woodscapes picture, is featured on page 90.

For more information on Woodscapes, you can contact Tom Bramhill at 660 Eglinton Ave. East, Box 50101. Toronto. Canada, M4G 4G1,(416) 486-1482.