ABOUT US

In 1997, the founders of Woodscape artKits got together to examine the appeal of large wooden pictures based on a classic paint-by-number process. One of the first decisions was to allow the customer to mix their own paints rather than pre-mix them in the factory. This provided an educational element, but it also gave the adventurous customer the freedom to vary any particular color. This flexibility, along with the natural variation in every piece of wood, meant that every Woodscape would be different. Anyone who has done a Woodscape senses this uniqueness and feels, quite rightly, that their picture is truly their own creation.

In 1998, Woodscape moved into its first home, a space not much larger than a garage in a small industrial complex in Ottawa, Canada.

A number of unique problems faced the company as it began to manufacture its first kits. The first problem was how to create a small gap between each piece of lath when making a blank. We found that we could not build a fixed die because each piece of lath was slightly different in width. Finally after months of frustration someone came to the plant one morning with a new idea: Put 30 laths together tightly on a piece of ¼ inch foam then pick up each end and let the foam form a serious curve. Then place the foam back on a flat table and voila! every piece of lath was 1/16 of an inch apart.

The next question was how to get kraft paper to adhere to the wood perfectly. There were many attempts but eventually we all brought in our irons from home and spent the day ironing paper to wood. This is how the first Woodscapes were made.

When we ordered our first truckload of lath from a mill in New Brunswick it arrived soaking wet. We set up fans and started to try and dry it out but quickly the moisture in the wood started creating mold all over our small manufacturing space. What a nightmare. But little by little we learned to do things better and within a couple of years we had moved twice to larger facilities, purchased 7 new lasers and we could produce almost 30 thousand quality kits in a year.

Our first significant sales were to a chain called C.E.A.T.I.V.I.T.Y on Long Island. We sent in a display with 12 kits and sold out in each store in less than a week. We quickly learned that consumers liked the look of our product and many became hooked on doing them as a rewarding hobby.

Woodscapes now has about 12 thousand Preferred Customers who make our kits on a continuing basis.

Production of the Pre-Assembled kits was moved from our factory in Ottawa to Colart’s factory in China a couple of years ago because of cost considerations. Colart is a very large art materials company who sell products like Winsor&Newton paints, Liquitex, Reeves, etc. and are world specialists in paint production. Colart also sells Woodscape's products themselves in a number of European countries. All Woodscape Traditional kits are still made in Ottawa, Canada and the company is committed to continuing the manufacture of its larger kits.

Woodscape has developed about 75 different styles and types of kits. About 44 of these are available at the present time.

Mary Chandor has been designing Woodscapes since the beginning and the response to her creations has always been extremely positive. David McDonald was one of the founders of Woodscape and has acted as its president since the company’s creation.
Mary and David are brother and sister and in many ways Woodscape is like a large family. And this extends to the special relationship the company has with so many of its Preferred Customers