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How we do what we do...Starting from scratch, the components of all our boxes are machine cut, for accuracy, from quality MDF, either by ourselves or by trusted local specialists. From then on each box is individually hand assembled and finished. Except for the screws on hinges, we use no mechanical fixings in our boxes, just accurate joint cutting, the finest wood glue and a great deal of care and attention to detail. (MDF is flat, smooth, uniform, dense and free of knots and grain patterns. It doesn't warp, splinter or split and lends itself to intricate, precise machining, providing the basis for superior finished products. With greater stability and all the strength of ordinary softwood, MDF is the ideal base for the Decoupage decoration technique and that's why we use it). We put a lot of thought into our boxes and design them for usability. For instance, boxes with internal trays have no hinges on the lid. This isn't laziness or cost cutting, it is done to ensure that the lid itself can be used as a tray, without it breaking off the hinges. To ensure the lid doesn't fall off, the internal trays are raised up above the box base to locate the lid and hold it in place. The internal trays themselves are not attached to the box, so they can be taken out and fit nicely into the inverted lid, providing full access to the box contents while providing a secure location for the trays. All of our boxes need paint on some of their surfaces and for this we use only the best quality, high pigment paints. Although this increases the cost, it does ensure a durable, top quality, long-lasting finish (and it has the added advantage of cutting down on the time we spend on this mundane task, which can only be a good thing). Another, paint-related, thoughtful touch is that most boxes are painted white on the inside, to provide the best illumination of the contents. We use a variety of papers for our decorative finish. Some are imported from specialist manufacturers in Italy, Australia and the USA and are specifically printed for use in Decoupage. These papers are free of acid, so they will not damage the box or any surface they are placed on, and they use a manufacturing process which ensures that the finished surface does not separate from the backing layer when the paper is wetted by the adhesive. They are also printed with a process that uses paint pigment rather than ink, ensuring decades of resistance to colour fading. Some of the designs on these papers date back to the early 17th century, providing a beautiful and nostalgic counterpoint to modern decor and yet sitting well in more traditional period settings. For the discerning customer with modern tastes, we also use top quality modern wallpapers on some of our designs. These have similar characteristics to the specialist Decoupage papers, the main difference being that they are normally a bit thicker, but just as safe, durable and fade free. We also print our own papers (exclusively for our own use) using specialised paint-pigment printers and acid free paper. The results are just as good as any other papers you can buy and we don't sell them to anyone else. This ensures the designs are absolutely unique to Wendy's Artworks and are often designed specifically to fit the dimensions of a particular style of box. Many of these designs use Wendy's own paintings and are strictly limited in numbers, ensuring exclusivity. Then there are the finishing touches. The larger boxes come as standard with a written trim strip round the edge of the lid, printed in complimentary colours and font styles. Each style has a standard legend, for instance "Keepsakes Box" or Hobby Box" but, as we print these ourselves, this can be changed to suit your own requirements (see "Services" pages). Every box is finished off with a cross brushed satin varnish to further protect the finished item. Memberships...Wendy is a member of the Rutland Open Studios, see the ROS website. Testimonials...I'm not going to put "Quotes from satisfied customers" here, because I never believe them when I see them in a "buy my wonderful product" ad. Tastes differ, and what one person thinks is beautiful, another would burn or bury in the garden, so even genuine testimonials don't mean much in this context. Having said that, we do get an awful lot of repeat business. The staff...There's Wendy, of course. One of the youngest people ever to be offered a place at Slade School of Art, Wendy is a natural artist with an instinct for colour and form to match the best. She has tried many different media and techniques but achieves her best results with "pen and wash" details of old buildings, somehow capturing the atmosphere of the situation and making you want to open that old door or look through that cracked old window to see what's behind it. Good as she is at representing reality, Wendy is also very imaginative and inventive and creates beautiful results from pictures in her mind. She can look at a collection of old photographs, beer mats, labels from bottles and packages, Victorian scraps, depictions of flowers, even old wallpaper patterns, then put them together in her head and translate them into the kind of finished product you see here. She is also a master of the computer and can perform wondrous transformations of the most ordinary subject into natural or abstract patterns of amazing beauty. Despite all of this, she's a real nice lady with a sparkling intelligence and a ready smile. Then there's Brian. Most often described as the "Works" in Wendy's Artworks, he does most of the heavy lifting. Having trained as an architect and spending his early career in architectural and civil engineering drawing offices, he also designs all of the boxes and does the technical drawings for the cutting patterns. He's skilled with hand and machine tools so he prepares and perfects the prototypes and does most of the day-to-day manufacture and finishing. Don't think he's all brawn and no brain though. He has a day job as a computer specialist and is a talented artist in his own right, with a preference for water colour landscapes depicting scenes of windswept isolation. He's also a perfectionist, an optimist and a nice guy with a wicked sense of humour; tall, dark, handsome, well formed and generally the most desirable thing on two legs after George C (hey, guess who wrote this!). |
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