Discovered a cluster of artisans who breathes wooden art

Last weekend we traveled to interior of Salem region to find a town which is popular for wooden art . They are making various artistic showpieces and statues using different type of woods such as vengai & teak and many more. They are popular for making Theru (In Tamil) for Temple for generations . Their specialty is  that they use only chisel to work and they don't use much modern equipment's as it doesn't get perfection comparing to handwork.

About Thamampatti & Wooden work :
      Thamampatti is a town located near Valapadi which is emerging town with less exposure to technology and farming is another major economic source in that region.

      70 years back Thamampatti village panchayat decide to build Theru and other wooden idol for their temple by bringing carpenters permanently from Trichy & Salem region. As years went this artisan were approached by nearby village and towns to make wooden idols and other temple related wooden statues. As generation passed and working skills were passed to next generations and now mostly 3rd generation artisans are working as entrepreneur . They are recognized by  Tamilnadu Handicraft Development Corporation Limited which helped them to showcase their work in various exhibition conducted by Ministry of handicraft across country. Currently they get orders from India and abroad also few artisans have worked in many countries.

Decline of wooden artist:
As CNC technology started to penetrate into wooden business using which pieces can be  made for low cost and time so these artist are facing challenge from these type of technology based wooden business . So only few artist who had strong network connection and business skill survived and currently running their business in Thamampatti .
Hope in future emerging #3DPrinterkillsart doesn't bury artist skill and hand carving doesn't fade.
Specialization : Idols , Theru , Animal statues , different type of doors etc..

Wood : Mostly Vengai , Teak and rest of wood based on requirement.

As there are many artist spread across these region who are specialized in different area so please let us know if you are interested so we can direct you to right artisan.

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Discovered Marine Engineer transformed into Ship model builder :

  Today we met Mr. Sudheer ( Artist ) in his workshop in T.V.S Nagar , Coimbatore .  He is specialist in making different styles of ship models  , vehicles and pooja mandapam using wood. Sudheer is working in this handicraft field for last two decades . He designs structure and with help of carpenter executes products. He was an Marine engineer by his profession before starting this handicraft venture which makes him in master of making Ship model of different sizes starting from 1.5 ft - 6 ft of length.

About Sudheer life and work :

  Mr. Sudheer was Marine engineer as profession and worked in ship for 15+ years . He came out of marine profession due to personnel reason and started few business in Coimbatore but things didn't go well as expected and satisfaction was missing in his life.

   

    Once while building his house in Coimbatore he came across of lot of waste wood during construction . So Sudheer thought of making a ship for his remembrance of his sea voyage and made a collaborative ship which had all style inside model such as war ship , pirate ship , cruise and cargo ship. Once completing ship model in 4 months surprisingly he found business feasibility for his artistic thought as well as live life with his marine passion. So he started to make wooden ships in various size and boat which was mainly bought by people in Hotel , Offices and educational institution.

 Sudheer was gaining more experience with wood as years passed. He started to find clients in metros and also he was recognized by Tamilnadu Handicraft Development Corporation Limited . He participate in various handicraft exhibitions around India. In 2008 he stopped his handicraft work due to major health issue and again this year he started his work to get back to his artistic life.Let us support them by buying from him or promote them via social media.

Wood used : He uses various wood such as teak , rosewood , pine based on customer requirement .

Handicraft Products : Ship & Boat Models , Interior miniature  , rickshaw , bicycle and many more engineering based  products.

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Discovered an Artist - awarded " Lifetime Achievement Award 2015 "

This week we had a chance of meeting Mr.Shanmugham , 67 years old artisan with immence knowledge. He was given " Lifetime Achievement Award " by Tamilnadu Handicraft Development Corporation for his contribution to art. He makes papier machie idols such as Krishnan , Ganesha and ship to various part of India.

Shanmugham started to explain his work by praising and thanking his Guru for making his life more purposeful.

Life of Shanmugham :
Shanmugham was born to a family who make traditional lamps and pots using clay in Keerapalayam near Chidambaram. Shanmugham learned art using clay from his childhood and as age passed his father wants his son to have better and purpose life so he was sent to Chennai to work as apprentice for artist Kumaragurudasa Pillai. He was accepted by his guru after taking oath that he will not eat meat and alcohol in his life.  Coming from region where his childhood was filled with meat especially Eral (Prawn) which was unique with size between 1 ft to 2 ft but Shanmugham agreed with hesitation and took oath also signed paper that he will never takes meat which he follows till now. He was staying with his Guru for nearly 12 yrs learning about making sculptures and also ancient literature. Returning back to Chidambaram after several years working with clay was difficult for him as business process so through a training session he was able to learn make perfect idols using paper-mache over a time period.

    " Paper-mache has long history which originated in China during 10th century and traveled to Persia through prisoners and became economically successful in Europe in latter centuries."

He shifted his base to Coimbatore at age of 22 as he was informed about business opportunity in this region. He was running his work near Sivalaya theater and later in Sundarapuram. Shanmugham was also having hurdles to sell a unique product as market was dominated by plaster of paris and clay. But he educated his customer about benefit of paper mache and established himself his business successfully in Coimbatore with his own premises . So now customers from Kerala and other states visit his place to purchase specifically Paper-Mache based Idol.

Unique Selling Proposition of Shanmugham work:
Shanmugham feels godly when he draws eyes of idols as it is like giving life to idol which he learnt specifically from his guru.

Work : Shanmugham makes  Showpieces , Pooja idols and specially Bommai Kolu using paper

Courtesy Pictures : Picture of Mr. Shanmugham was taken from The Hindu article Apr'10 2013 .

Discovered - Artist who fusion his hobby with academies as Handicraft

Today ( 08.04.2015 ) we met a Artists who works with natural wood , wooden grains and color of wood to make beautiful Ganesha , Krishna flute , deer with fawn and many more. His name is Mr.Vijayakumar who has been awarded by State government and appreciated by media.

Mr.Vijayakumar was born in farmers family in Kuruchi​ , Coimbatore. He got inspired from his mothers woolen handicraft work which drove him into drawing as hobby from 5th grade. As days past and did his bachelors in Zoology out of which Anatomy​ was his attraction.
           After completing his education went into regular employment which never gave him peace as his heart perused for Entrepreneurship  so he started his own business based on old wood. During that business he noticed and admire the beauty in old wood and their structure which provoked his mind to fusion his hobby of drawing with his knowledge about living being and beauty of nature to make handmade artistic pieces.
        As years went artist within him groomed better and with his wife he grew his business having workshop having trained wood professional.Currently his works are showcased Poompuhar​ and most Victoria Technical Institute​ .

Work : Mr.Vijayakumar makes various drawing such as toys , god , animals using diversified woods. He develop his own designs and his master piece is Ardhanareeswarar which is made using 123 different wooden pieces. Color of pieces are natural and grains embolden using chemicals.

Wood Used : He doesn't use any color and he uses only old Vaagai , Patak , Eucalyptus , Silver oak , Tamarin , Aayan , saayam etc..

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Discovered a Man with Handicraft in his Soul

Our mission, at Lumbertome, is to bring talented and deserving artists to limelight. Today, we would like to introduce to you Mr. Natraj, a brilliant craftsman, who makes wonders using bamboo sticks. His miniature houses, ships, monuments and other products are quite famous.

Let’s take a quick look at his background and how he arrived at where he is today..

Mr. Natraj was born in Srilanka but during the 1980’s, he moved with his family to the Nilgiris district in South India. He learnt the art of making bamboo miniatures from his father and currently evolves these products based on the market needs. At present, he is staying in Saravanampatti in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Earlier, he used to sell his products in the Cross-Cut Road area, but later realized that such works of art must not be sold on the streets. Thus, he started making and selling his stunning products only to those customers who approach him. He has transferred his knowledge to his wife and daughter, who help him in designing and producing the miniatures.

His work has been showcased in many events like the Chemmozhi Maanadu and has also been recognized by the state government.

House miniature

Coimbatore Railway station miniature

Mr. Natraj only uses matured bamboo sticks, which are at least fifteen years old for his work. This is mainly because the wood gets stronger and seasoned as it gets older.

Though his main customers are architects and students, he also makes customized and personalized miniature gifts.

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