Carishei

Hello...

Welcome to the Carishei Canal Art shop. My name is Paul and I'm listing these delightful items I helped create with my Mum and Dad. Since 1996 we crafted these traditional 'Canal Art' items from previously loved vintage wares and sold them around the Kent craft fairs. Eventually they settled at a solitary stall at the gift shop of Kent's 'Paddock Wood Hop Farm' but due to a restructure of this business in 2012 were pretty much surplus to requirements despite the many fans of the applauded work.

Mum (Sheila) and Dad (John) are not really internet savvy so I thought I'd try to sell the remaining stock online. It will take some time to list because there is so much but I'm getting there. Many of these hand-painted items are extremely old and some are antiques so definitely have signs of age but, this makes them all the more charming.

Busy with other projects I didn't do much really so Dad did most of the hard work making, sanding, drilling, filling, repairing, varnishing etc. While Mum enjoyed most of the decorative painting. We do have a carishei.co.uk website where sales are conducted exclusively through etsy.com now. The clocks were available via amazon marketplace for a while but not any longer. If you see them there on our 'Carishei' listings they are possibly copies or perhaps resold as collectibles? Originals are numbered and have barcodes (an amazon prerequisite) for their colour attached.

World-wide shipping can be available but please enquire about shipping prices so that I can calculate the cost for an individual item in advance of the order.

Mum's eyesight is failing somewhat now through 'Macular Degeneration' so every sale here will include a small donation to the 'Macular Society" which is a very worthy charity. Mum really gets a thrill from feedback so I hope this works nicely for her.

Update October 2016: Recently Mum's eyesight deteriorated to the point a decision was made and after much instruction, demonstration and practice. I'm pleased that the first of what I hope will be many items I've decorated have been given the "guvnor's" seal of approval. These first items are in the shop now.

Update February 2018: My own distinctive style of this folk art has evolved to the point I'm comfortable with the quality and the sales have justified the continuation of this store. Meanwhile, almost all of Mum's original stock has sold so only for now can the difference in styles still be seen for comparison.

Thanks for reading this.
Warmest wishes
Paul