Artist-Grade Wood Supplies for Artists
What does "artist-grade" mean?
High-quality art supplies are usually labeled "artist-grade," "archival," or "professional," or marked
with a level like "Level 1" or "Level 3."
Amateur, hobbyist, or beginner supplies are usually labeled "student-grade," "Level 1," "basic," or "beginner."
There are artist-grade and student-grade materials everywhere- paintbrushes, paints, clay, canvases, tools and art utensils, etc.
Crayola is student-grade and Prismacolor is artist-grade.
Daniel Smith or Winsor & Newton are artist-grade and the Walmart off-brand is student-grade.
Golden is artist-grade paint, while the Apple Barrel craft paints that are $.99 are student-grade.
Soooo this begs the question... where is the artist-grade wood? Where is the higher quality, more refined stuff?
When you go to the craft store, you'll find craft wood that is more student-grade than artist-grade. These canvases are the craft standard and usually require some TLC (like sanding).
But… who is the artist-grade standard for wood canvases? Well, no one was but now we are!
Ta-daaaa!
Artist-grade, artist-made. That's us!
Now, let's clarify- there is nothing wrong with what craft stores carry. There is a large hobbyist/craft market for craft woods and wooden objects, and these craft store options are just fine for that! You as the buyer will have to do more prep to those wood surfaces to get to the artist-grade standard you are looking for. But basswood and birch are still perfectly fine, nice woods to create wood art on!
What we make is different
We handcraft high-quality artist-grade, smoothly sanded, perfectly prepped, sustainably-sourced domestic hardwood surfaces ready for you to make art on.
You don’t ever have to worry about the quality of your wood pieces EVER AGAIN!
Absolutely no one- not a single soul- likes ordering a big box of wood pieces just to find half of them with big blemishes or knots, sometimes spalted, discolored, dented, chipped, or cracked, or just straight-up ugly.😩
🚫NO UGLY WOOD HERE! 🚫No trash wood, EVER.
You get the best quality in every piece- perfectly sanded, triple-checked for any knicks or scratches, and ready for immediate art-making.
Never be disappointed in your wood again. Only “ooos” and “aaahs.” 🤩💚
Let's break down exactly what makes these wood surfaces so special
- Completely sanded smooth
- Practically blemish-free
- Saves you time and $ on sanding and prepping the wood
- Gives the perfectionist artist perfect wood you can be completely satisfied with
- Sustainably made
- Responsibly harvested wood
- Locally sourced wood from Central PA and surrounding states
- Only domestic hardwoods
- They offer unique crafting and art-making experiences
- Elevate your art to the next level
- They complement the styles of non-rustic artists.
- Added value to your artwork
- Make your art stand out from everyone else
- Provide exquisite diversity in a seemingly limited market
- Made by us in our little basement workshop
And the best part?
- They're literally made with love. We pour our heart and souls and blood, sweat, and tears into these bad boys. We quite literally lose sleep over them, but we also quite literally rejoice over them. We are real humans making something we truly believe in, and are trying to get the world to see just how beautiful wood is.
The dilemma
You might be wondering how we came into this niche. Well, we came into this by noticing a dilemma. Let's talk about that for a minute.
You know how you can go into any Hobby Lobby or Michael's, or heck, even Walmart, and find cheap wood surfaces in the craft section? Well, you can't walk into a Hobby Lobby and find sassafras or walnut. You can't walk into a Michael's and find a rainbow poplar cutting board. You can't go to Walmart and find a sweet cherry canvas. All you'll find is birch or basswood. And good Lord, there are SO many other beautiful woods out there that are amazing for art & DIY projects.
Most of the wood pieces you find at a craft store are either birch or basswood, or are cheap chintzy cutout pieces made from birch plywood or some wood-like surface with a cheap birch veneer on top.
Now hear me out. There's nothing "wrong" with these options, okay? The cheap cutout birdhouses or heart cutouts are totally fine for kid-friendly DIYs. They're great for kids to draw and paint on. They're great for any project where you need cheap wood. Have a pre-school class that needs hearts for Mother's Day handprints? Have a girl scout group that is painting and decorating birdhouses? These super cheap wood pieces are great options for you.
The basswood planks and the birch rounds you can find are nicer, as they are "real wood." All of the solid-wood options in stores are kiln-dried pieces of wood that come from companies that manufacture and process large quantities of wood for commercial use. You can find the same birch rounds and basswood planks at any Michaels in the U.S., and that's great! That means these companies have a steady and sustainable business for consistently providing the same wood products year after year.
But... that's it. That's all the craft stores carry. What about artist-grade stuff? What about different wood species? Are you really limited to just basswood and birch? What if you were looking for something nicer? Where do you go for that? Facebook Marketplace? Hmm....
This is where we come in!
We noticed this hole in the market and built our business around this dilemma. We are SO EXCITED to be able to fill this need! We LOVE when our customers say things like "This is 1000 times better than the wood at Michael's" or "OMG IT'S SO SMOOTH! I DIDN'T NEED TO SAND IT AT ALL!"
Like, YES! This is exactly what we're aiming for! Beautiful wood pieces that don't cost an arm and a leg and that are artist-grade for the nicest of art but available enough for the DIYer who wants something different to DIY on. Doesn't matter if you're a pyrographer, a painter, a fabric artist, or whatever else. Do you want to create something? Yes. Can you use this wood? Also yes.
Here is a looooong list of things you can do with these wood pieces:
- Pyrography, of course
- Wood carving
- Dremel engraving
- Laser engraving
- Painting
- Mandala art
- Photo transfers
- Collages
- Calligraphy
- Clock-making
- Decoupage and embellishment projects
- Family name signs
- Handmade gameboards
- Photography props (think food, jewelry display)
- DIY signs
- DIY chalkboard signs
- Table centerpieces for candles/vases
- Table place setting "chargers"
- Fiber art
- Macrame Art
- Wedding decor & props
- Wedding gifts
- Teacher gifts
- Nursery keepsakes
- Heirloom keepsakes
- Baby shower gifts
- Housewarming gifts
- and the list goes on...