Wood Whisperers of Tsalduna Use Second-Hand Materials to Create Any Shape of Items
From elegant hair clips to bookshelves or aborigen-style masks, Tsalduna makes them all. These are all handmade items made of wood and we wanted to learn about who stands behind that ''wood whisperer''.
Oto Munjishvili is a woodworker and his spouse Maia Mezvrishvilis is his assistant and manages the business.
''Oto and I have been married for nine years and all this time I know him, he is always in search and creates something interesting, he is never satisfied and tries to make a more and more exciting accessory or picture every time. He's had lots of different jobs and nowhere does he feel as comfortable as in his little workshop with his weird, interesting ideas. That's why I offered to try to post pictures of his works on the Internet first on my profile, I was wondering how friends and acquaintances would react. It sparked a lot of interest - everyone wanted everything,''-said Maia Mezvrishvili.
Most importantly, no trees are cut or harmed during the process, their friends give them wood roots, they only use second-hand materials and create handmade items.
Tsalduna founders wanted an interesting and characteristic name. Oto recalled his childhood tale- ''The Bird and the Fox'', that's where the fox mentions the word ''Tsalduna''.
They created a page in 2018 and started active work, before that Oto had experience - he is an artist and has been painting since childhood, working on wood, and creating interesting things.
Tsalduna accepts individual orders for accessories of any design, they make them with the desired inscription, shape, and colors. It's noteworthy that Oto has no instruments, everything is handcrafted.
Maia's main job is management, ie page activity, ordering, sending, customer relations. In addition, I help my spouse to polish and color things. Customers are always looking for something new, they come up with interesting ideas and they bring them to life.
Tsalduna has a small workshop in the Gori district, where unique handmade items are made - accessories of any design, Georgian wooden dolls, new and different models of handmade hair clips of zodiac signs.
The family business also has a small workshop in their house. They use pine, walnut, spruce, unusable tree roots, and give even peels of wood life. They've even picked up sticks washed ashore by Mtkvari and made home decorations.
''The imagination of "Tsalduna" goes beyond the limits and does not work in one direction as a template. Every day is refreshing in our workshop, our works are foreign and different. You will agree, it has some other charm and hue, which causes great interest from the customers.
There was such a case - a customer gave us a picture and asked us if we could make one of the character's masks from the computer game "Crash". He was fine if it would be somewhat similar. Oto exceeded his expectations and after that, there's a huge demand for masks
Our team consists of only two members so far. One normal working day is planned depending on which customer's item the deadlines are important. I try to convey all the details of what the user writes to Oto with maximum accuracy so that it comes out what the recipient wants. Then he starts painting and cutting.. and one more ordinary piece of wood come to life and gain function,''-said Maia.
In the future, They would like to buy the tools and equipment needed for the workshop, which will allow them to simplify this complex job a little bit.