Bringing Art To Life with Lexington StudioS
By Heather Gaghan

As a young, single parent in her 20s, Sandra Satz had plenty of long night time hours to fill after her son Brad went to sleep. It was during this time that she really began to take her talent—painting, seriously. Sandra remembers “For many years friends and family have told me I should do something with my talent.” So in January of 2004 she designed her first piece, “A Spot of Tea” tea box.



Authenticity and realism are the qualities that Sandra appreciates most in her work. Her favorite form of art is “Trompe L’Oeil” which means “trick the eye” in French and is a style of painting that gives an illusion of photographic reality. Her love of ‘art with a function’ is the cornerstone of her creative process.



It didn’t take long for her lifelike paintings to catch the eye of many retailers, and in August of 2004 she launched her company, Lexington Studios at the New York Gift Show. She did so well that in only 18 months she was selling to over 350 retailers across the country! Her product line began with images of her passions—tennis and gardening, but after her first sales call to a local gift store she realized that animals, dogs in particular, were also very popular. Sandra remembers the words of wisdom her customer gave her, “there are two things that blow right out of my store, one is anything with dogs; the second is boxes. People just love their dogs and boxes.” With Labs being the number one dog breed, it only made sense that “Loveable Labs” was her first dog box.

She quickly discovered that most people want their particular breed on the products and as all pet lovers know, their beloved dog looks like no other dog in the world, so painting various versions of each breed was not a good idea, but Sandra had a better one. “…we came up with a solution, we’ll do better than having a dog look like our customer’s dog, we can have it be exactly like theirs because it is!” Visitors to her website can very simply send up to four jpg. images or mail photos of their favorite pet and Lexington Studios can insert their picture directly into the “Loveable Labs” art.

All the wood pieces in the company’s collections are custom designed as well as the packaging that completes the creation process. Only the highest quality ink and paper are used for each product. It is a methodical and careful process that enables Sandra and her staff to bring wood to life.

It begins with Sandra’s original acrylic painting on wood which is then reproduced as a Giclée print and applied directly to which ever wooden shape is desired. The word Giclée means to spray in French and this is the term given to the process of printing. A spinning roller carries the paper while infinitely small pixels of rich, vibrant archival pigments are sprayed onto it at very high speeds. This renders an amazingly smooth and consistent image true to the original painting. Truly a superb quality, fine art reproduction!

The wood is then sealed three times by hand brushing to ensure that it is well protected for generations to enjoy. Each limited edition “Object d’Art” is then hand signed and numbered. The products are complete when placed in their special custom flannel gift bag along with a gift card, and a singed and numbered certificate of authenticity. A little secret for all of Sandra’s customers is her inclusion of the names or initials of her son or granddaughters Lindsey and Kayla.

A personal touch is also important to Sandra and throughout her website there are options to “Purely Personalize” certain pieces. Just recently she had a customer send four pictures of her beloved Lab and she placed each of the images on her “Lovable Labs” box, included a dedication on the inside lid and even added his name to the tag on the collar. As she says, “It doesn’t get more personal than that!”

Sandra is proud to share that each piece of her art is hand applied and finished right here in the USA in New England. The handmade process of her pieces allows that heirloom quality she cherishes to shine through and she welcomes the small imperfections that appear on each one making them unique. All pieces are approved and signed by Sandra personally.

All Labs is excited to bring this line of functional art to your life and home with the “Lovable Labs Box” and the “Lovable Labs Frame.” Click here to take a look at the endless, creative possibilities for you and your lovable Lab.