Brushware Inflation Series: Brush Industry Impact Part I

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Manufacturer Perspective: Industry Leaders On The Impact of Inflation and Supply Chain Challenges

By Bob Lawrence

With the days dwindling down toward the new year amid the highest worldwide inflation rates in decades, and with the likes of Steve Forbes and Elon Musk predicting a recession, Brushware sought input from European and North American manufacturers, suppliers and machinery companies to learn how they are dealing with inflation, its impact, root causes and opinions on solutions to curtail it.

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Best Watercolor Brushes 2022

Watercolor painting has long been considered one of the top mediums for creative art. The semi-transparent look of watercolor allows the paper to give a painting a natural luminosity. As a fast-drying medium, the artist must work quickly as they blend colors while managing the water balance. That sense of urgency can create spontaneous and beautiful results. 

However, that balance and the overall delicacy of the medium requires the artist to wield a top-quality brush. For watercolor brushes, the most important characteristic is how well it holds water. Traditionally, natural sable hair brushes have been considered the top choice, but synthetic brushes are making inroads. The key strength that artists cite for sable is the water holding strength, but synthetics offer a vegan-friendly alternative at a more affordable price.

Choosing the right brush for watercolor can be challenging, but we asked the top Brushware artist brush manufacturers to present their best options. Here is your list of the best watercolor brushes for 2022.

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Inflation and Supply Chain Impact on Gordon Brush

 

Ken Rakusin, President and CEO, Gordon Brush Mfg. Co., Inc. was interviewed by reporter Renee Ing from Spectrum News 1 on how inflation and supply chain issues are affecting brush manufacturers.

“Everything is backlogged because we are having trouble getting the material needed to make our brushes and something that used to cost $5.00, is now $15.00,” says Rakusin, “The backlog has slowed my entire business down. We used to be able to quote and deliver in a one to two-week time period, now, we can’t do that anymore, we don’t know whether it’s going to be four weeks or six weeks.”

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Gordon Brush Letter to Zahoransky

Following the December announcement that Zahoransky would no longer exhibit at Interbrush, Ken Rakusin, president and CEO of Gordon Brush, shared a letter he sent to Ulrich Zahoransky and Robert Dous of Zahoransky on January 19, 2022. At last week’s ABMA Convention, Rakusin granted permission for Brushware to publish the full letter:

 

Dear Uli and Robert,

I am writing to you regarding your announcement last month about Zahoransky bidding farewell to Interbrush and no longer exhibiting. I refrained from writing to you until this time as I was quite upset and wanted to make sure that I wasn’t letting emotion get the best of me.

I find it quite offensive that Zahoransky has chosen to basically leave the brush industry behind and ignore the significant benefits gained by brush manufacturers and suppliers worldwide at Interbrush. I’ll use my personal experience over my 32 years in the business as an example.

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StaticFaction: New State of the Art Website

The new StaticFaction website is your one-stop shop for static control solutions. The website features Thunderon®, a conductive fiber, with unmatched static control in any electronic environment and over 300 ESD, anti-static and conductive brushes in addition to Thunderon® fiber.

StaticFaction, LLC, was founded in 1994 as the exclusive authorized North American distributor of Thunderon®, a conductive fiber that has an excellent corona discharge effect and is used to eliminate static electricity, anti-static products, including Corona Cord®, Filament/Tow, Tape, and Yarn. StaticFaction also sells finished ESD, anti-static and conductive brushes manufactured by Gordon Brush® and other brush manufacturers.

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2021 Brushware September-October eMag Now Available

 

The 2021 September/October Artist Brush Special Edition of Brushware magazine is now available to all readers in eMag (digital edition) format. August is American Artist Appreciation Month and we’re celebrating with the release of our brand new Artist/Detail Brush Special Section that highlights top brushes from FM Brush, Gordon Brush and Yongli Filament & Bristle Co. Check out the new section on page 21. The issue also recognizes ABMA Executive Director David Parr and his 20-year legacy as he prepares an exit strategy for 2022. The extended coverage from Bob Lawrence begins on page 29. We also have Zephyr’s R.J. Lindstrom as our profile and Lisa Anderson’s column covers the urgent need for leaders to craft a business intelligence plan. In our Pulse segment, Jeffrey Mink from FM Brush and Eric Zhao from Yongli Filament & Bristle Co. offer insights on the artist brush sector of the industry. Plus, the issue includes the US Import/Export trade stats for the first half of 2021 and our full economic dashboard.

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