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Nantana Sompamitre

"My name is Nantana Sompamitre and you can call me 'Nan.' I was born on May 1st 1950 in Sankamphang, a calm and peaceful village near Chiang Mai. My family is large, I have eight brothers and sisters – we are a family of artisans. Instead of going to the fields, my father and mother made the umbrella's topknot. My father is a craftsman and was always teaching us his craft. My brothers and sisters helped our parents out in one way or another in the running of their business. I am the one who was able to make the shape of knot and I started helping my parents when I was 13 years old but quit when 17 years old. At that time I had just graduated from High School and I wanted to do something more to help my parents. Fortunately, my cousin had a food shop in Chiang Mai and I became a vendor. Under good conditions this is generally a good line of work, and eventually I met my husband. He is the man who changed my life completely.

"He is an artisan working on lacquerware. His main job was to paint the motifs on the different pieces. We got married when I was 23 years old. One day, my husband and I discussed our future and we realized that with his skill and mine, we could open up our own lacquer ware workshop. He taught me every step involved in the creation of lacquerware. Thanks to my hand-crafting background I learned quickly and within a year I took part in every step of the creation process, even hand-painting motifs. We then needed to find a distributor and sell our handcrafted products since we had just opened our workshop and we were not known yet. My husband and I went to Bangkok and got our first consignment order! Gradually more shops took an interest in our work and we soon began to sell more, so we were very happy as we could see we had a bright future ahead of us.

"Now we have more than 30 artisans working with us, and my husband and I always train them personally. This is my most proudest thing in life. I never dared to dream of a day like this. I would not have made this on my own, it's all up to chance – it's up there in the air and you just have to grab it. If I hadn't, I would still be selling food.

"I love this craft very much, it is a Thai heritage and not everyone can do it. My work is always developing in quality, color, shape and design. We all work together as a team and everyone presents his or her own idea.

"I have a son and a daughter. My son is 26 years old and studies Computer Engineering at the State University and my daughter has just graduated in Business Management. They are my hope and I think they will be successful in life.

"I think Novica is the best channel in this day and age to show who you are and what you are doing. Novica will help my handcrafts be known around the world for the people who love this kind of work. What more can I ask for? Thank you Novica, and I hope everybody loves my handcrafts too!"