Lexington Studios: Quality Art and Unique Items

What started as a pastime for Sandra Satz has turned into a profitable business. She started painting years ago at night after her child was finally off to sleep — an enjoyable hobby she has since grown into a business.

What differentiates Satz’s work from some other artists is that she paints functional and decorative objects and not on canvas. She likes art to have a further purpose, and that is, in fact, her slogan, “Art with a function”.

Satz wanted to sell her work but at the same time didn’t want to part with it. The solution is the Giclée printing method. Giclée is a French word meaning "sprayed ink." It produces high-quality printed artwork with good color accuracy. Lithography, an older method of printing, was the usual method before Giclée became popular. The Giclée method creates a clear finished print of a scanned image. This printing process allows Satz to produce as few or as many copies of her work as needed. She also has the capability to vary her designs as needed incorporating photos with painted designs and calligraphy to design a custom piece to the customer's specification.

“The spring is the busy season”, says Satz, “with many showers, weddings, bar/ bat mitzvahs and birthdays being celebrated this time of year.”

Lexington Studios has that unique one of a kind gift for a special person. Photo frames, memory boxes, coasters, photo albums, clocks, jewelry and memory boxes are examples of some of the items available. Any of these items may be custom made to the customer’s specification including names, photographs and themed illustrations. Eighty percent of Satz’s business is personalized artwork for gifts.

It was seven years ago that Lexington Studios was born with their manufacturing shop located on 9 Cypress St. Satz was working as a representative for a consumer electronics company and decided to leave her job to paint and run her own business full time.

People started coming into the manufacturing site asking to see finished painted pieces, so Satz decided to move across the street to 25 Adams St., where there is space to have a showroom of painted pieces in the front of the store.

Along with custom ordered pieces much of the work that Satz does is wholesale. Items are sent to various stores around the country and sold in retail gifts shops and stores.  Satz travels to trade shows to promote her work. All items can be found and ordered online at www.lexingtonstudios.com.

The process of creating a piece is as follows; Satz gets creative input from her customer for their order and puts together the design then sends it to the graphic artist. The work is then sent back to the shop to be finished and put together. A photo album, for example, is hinged together and varnished at the manufacturing area of the store before being sent to the customer. It’s a one of a kind gift item that can’t be found anywhere else.

“Our products are made in the USA’” said Satz.

How does Satz find time to paint and run a business? Cindy Marsh, Satz’s sister helps her out along with other employees. Satz paints at night or takes some time off from going to the store to have time to paint. She has a knack for painting and working with color, although having no formal education; she loves what she does.

Hours at Lexington Studios, 25 Adams St, Burlington are: 

Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and weekends by appointment.