New Business / April 2005
Signed On - Art That's a Blast
 Lee Undershultz andsome examples of her special etched designs. |
By Pat Lawrence
Lee Undershultz is an artist, a gardener and an entrepreneur. She has connected those dots to create a picture perfect career. Two years ago, she established Firefly Hollow Gardens, a local source for a diverse assortment of exotic and popular daylilies. But, daylilies are a seasonal enterprise and she wanted a business that would engage her time and interest year round. So, last June, she diversified with Firefly Hollow Signs.
Her Belpre location on Washington Boulevard has retail space, an office and the necessary equipment for cutting and creating vinyl artwork for banners, signs and unique awards. It is also where Lee dreams up and creates the imaginative templates for her specialty - elegant glassware and decorative items sandblasted with her custom designs.
Firefly Hollow Signs offers thermal printing on totes, umbrellas and bags and personalized apparel at her shop. She says “We get requests everyday for something special as an awards. We make unique, personal awrds that are often also functional, like plates and vases or lamps. People also like our banners, especially the full color photo banners that are about $150.” Lee enjoys doing vehicle graphics as well, “whether it's lettering or fancy graphics like logos.”
A flourishing business with corporate and private customers keeps her entrepreneurial spirit satisfied, but Lee's artistry and passion for gardens have created a new dimension to the enterprise.
Using the same vinyl and cutting machine employed in traditional sign making, Lee creates custom designs on glass vases, platters, plates and other articles. The original designs, many with floral themes, are completed on a computer. “Every part of the piece that is not sandblasted is masked. All of the glass not covered is permanently etched. The designs show up beautifully on clear or colored glass,” she says. “Generally, anything glass with a straight or just gently curved surface can be etched, although curved surfaces are a little more complicated.” Lee's garden motif designs have decorated cake plates and even fruit bowls.
For special occasions, she has decorated vases to celebrate an anniversary, or other event and “the customer takes the vase to a florist for a spectacular, totally memorable flower arrangement.”
Customers can choose a pattern that Lee has already created, or she will make a custom design. Her standard designs include a variety of popular subjects, including flowers, birds and butterflies, but she also has imaginative pieces with fish and animals. One “standard” is a plate that has been etched top and bottom in two separate applications to reveal a three dimensional picture of goldfish swimming among lily pads. The prices are surprisingly affordable.
Standard patterns on a vase range from $22-$45, depending on the size of the vase. To create a custom design, Lee charges $60 an hour, “but that can be a very small charge, just for a few minutes, if its just a name and date. A complicated piece might take a couple of hours.” The objects Lee uses to show her work change often. “as we find new and different sources.”
She has been making etched lanterns, decorated on each side with her designs. “It's a two step process, where part of the design is heavily etched and part is lightly etched.” Lee does the design, prepares the piece, carefully removes all the adhesive from the vinyl mask and cleans each piece. Her husband Kirk does the sandblasting. Lee says, “We work together very well.”
It seems a natural arrangement for the woman who has made her life a marriage of artistry and ability.
Contact Lee at Firefly Hollow Enterprises, 1212 Washington Avenue, Belpre, OH, 740-423-0300.
Copyright © 2005-2006 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
Femme Fair 2006
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