My name is Francesco Ghimenton. I am an upholsterer, a job into which I was trained thanks to family tradition and experience. My job enables me to co-operate often with other craftsmen, some of whom are actual masters in their craft. For some years now I have been carrying out a plan to collect the creations of the craftsmen whom I consider to be the best ones among all those I had the chance to meet, with the aim of bringing out their skill, as these craftsmen do not only have adequate experience and technical skill, but are also able to add to their creations that peculiar touch which makes them unique. Their creations are therefore destined to be forever testimony of their skill, while never getting out of fashion or boring. The search and selection of ethnic articles is based on similar principles, as the peculiar requirement for these objects is hand manufacturing with those strictly traditional techniques that are typical of a specific population. In case the handmade article was actually used for its traditional purpose, thus being worn with use or showing patinas and repairs tracing back to its origin, it becomes much more intensely charming and significant in comparison with articles created for mere commercial purposes.

The choice of creating a showroom on the world of handicrafts on the Internet was made with the purpose of demonstrating that a craftsman's workshop can live in harmony with modern technologies and new market developments. Moreover, the Internet allows a consistent reduction of costs connected with a suitable presentation of the products we deal in, which usually would require opening and maintaining one or more shops in the centre of important towns, in classy and trendy locations: this implies a series costs which are bound to be mirrored by an increase in the final customer's price. On the contrary, it is our policy to offer the articles to our customers for the same price that the craftsman who created it would ask to his direct customers. Our remuneration consists simply in the discount that craftsmen grant us due to the constant and permanent business relation we maintain with them.

I am fully aware that a computer image cannot convey the beauty and the refinement in details of the products we present, which can be perceived only through a firsthand examination before purchase. For this purpose, all articles presented on this web site are available for examination at our warehouse in Soresina, which is going to become a showroom in the near future. Customers who can reach us, then, are welcome to visit us in Soresina (see Location) and gain direct experience of the articles we propose on the web. Customers who, on the contrary, cannot reach us due to obvious reasons of distance, are granted the right to withdraw from the purchase agreement (within 14 days) in case they are not fully satisfied with the article they bought (see How to place an order); in this case, only shipping charges will debited to them. As well as providing all necessary warranties or certifications (see Warranties and certifications), we remain gladly at the customer's complete disposal for further details on any article or special requests (for instance, photos of details).

Two percent of each purchase made at Craft Art, including both articles shown on the web and custom-made articles, will be donated to , an international charity which, in my opinion, is reliable and effective in its work, as I ascertained by visiting personally their projects in Ethiopia and Ghana. At the beginning of each year, the receipts of the donations to Action Aid which were made during the preceding year are published on this web site (see Donations to Action Aid).