Paint it yourself

Published on January 25, 2008

Sha Bha Shine is a well-known furniture-maker whose signature products include wooden items adorned with hand-painted floral designs. Recently, the small but growing company set up a showroom where they not only showcase their latest collections, but also offer painting classes for those who are also in love with the blooming blossoms of nature.

"The classes are just a natural consequence of our expanded business," explains Piyanat Terapongsakorn, or Jam, Sha Bha Shine's owner, whose furniture business grew infatuated with wooden furniture items with Yaovapa Saijun, a painting graduate from Silpakorn University.

"People who have seen our products always asked us about our painting techniques because they liked the patterns and somehow want to draw flowers themselves. So, when the time was right, I just called some customers who I know to attend our classes and the rest was history."

Sha Bha Shine offers an array of drawing and painting classes every week, with different schedules and product types for people to choose from. Students share a large wooden table in the showroom of a brightly renovated Thai-style old wooden house and enjoy their time creating their own blooming blossoms.

Among the classes offered are those for wood painting, fabric painting and tin painting. For those who look for ways to make nice gifts, classes of mosaic painting and clay pot painting are also available. Jam explains that each material need special techniques to make the paint durable with different uses of paints and brushing techniques. However, drawings and paintings, on whatever materials, are fun ways for her students to relax and enjoy their pastime. Jam reveals that her students range from housewives with lots of free time to those who wish one day they might use the knowledge to run their own business to 70-year-old retired man who flew in from Chiang Mai to join the club.

"Anyone who wants to learn how to draw, paint, especially floral forms, can join the class. It is a nice way to relax and flowers, which are, in my perception, one of the best natural creations, have a sudden healing and calming effects for all of us."

Sha Bha Shine's showroom is packed with furniture of all sizes and for all purposes. Jam mainly produces new furniture out of used wood she sources out from Ayutthaya. She explains that old wood is better for furniture because the wood had already been settled and thus more durable and predictable. However, some pieces of furniture are made from new teakwood as well.

"We have a small factory and about 10 full-time painters inhouse. We not only sell our collections out, but also make custom-ordered goods," Jam says. "People can come in with some sketches of the products they want and we can reproduce them. Also, if the project is big enough, we can go in to measure the spaces for them and produce individual pieces of specially designed furniture for them to fill in on their own. We do not do built-in, though."

Classes are held from Wednesday to Sunday. For those who want to a short-term trial, a one-time class for one product is available at Bt1,200 including equipment and you get to bring the product of your choice home. But for those who want to get serious with all the painting techniques, a course of 10 class is available for Bt12,000, including all painting equipment.

There is room for five cars to park on the premises. All classes details with updated schedules are available on their Thai-language website.

Sha Bha Shine

25 Charan Sanitwong

Soi 77 (02) 885 4788,

(089) 231 5021

shabhashine.com

Sirin P Wongpanit  

For more reviews, go to ohsirin.blogspot.com.