{"id":339,"date":"2018-11-26T11:26:39","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T11:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/stamford\/?p=339"},"modified":"2018-11-26T11:26:39","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T11:26:39","slug":"the-christmas-tree-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/highlights\/the-christmas-tree-artist\/11-2018","title":{"rendered":"The Christmas Tree Artist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Would you delegate the task of decorating the family tree?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meet Sam Fox, the local Christmas tree artist who designs, installs and decorates festive trees for her clients… a veritable Christmas angel, we think!<\/h3>\n

To some it\u2019s an enjoyable experience for the whole family. For others – like me – it\u2019s the bane of the festive season. Sourcing the perfect tree, getting the decorations down from the loft, untangling the lights from the lead, then untangling the cat from the tinsel and my child from the rest of the decorations.<\/p>\n

Imagine, then, if you could commission a bespoke tree, delivered to your door, with decorations, then trimmed up before being disassembled and taken away in the new year. Imagine no longer, as we introduce the festive angel intent on reminding you of the true joy of Christmas; having a really stunning tree that wipes the floor with whatever tacky abomination your friends and neighbours have put up. Don\u2019t let anyone tell you it isn\u2019t a competition. It is… very much so.<\/p>\n

Sam Fox, then, is your competitive advantage in the battle to have the best tree. She\u2019s a professional Christmas designer whose client list is so prestigious that we can\u2019t even name some of them. But she told us and really, it made us go \u2018Oooh!\u2019<\/p>\n

When you and I are snoozing in a comfy chair, slipping in and out of an After Eight coma in that festive no man\u2019s land between Christmas and New Year, Sam has already started planning her clients\u2019 trees for next year. Like local retailers of festive decoration retailers, Sam attends spring trade fairs to investigate the coming year\u2019s festive trends, then sets about creating colour schemes, presenting mood boards, and costing the whole thing out for her 50-ish corporate clients and an exclusive list of clients who commission Sam for their own homes.<\/p>\n

We say exclusive – Sam\u2019s work is of course entirely bespoke to each client – but in fact the designer typically charges between \u00a3250 and \u00a3500 for a 7ft Christmas tree sourced, supplied, decorated and then taken down for her clients after the festive season.<\/p>\n

Given that real trees are \u00a380-ish and that the ubiquitous purchase of new lights can cost the same once you\u2019ve ascertained that last year\u2019s purchase has gone awry, that\u2019s not much of a premium for someone to create a new look each year, with a professional looking tree and to have the whole lot taken away afterwards.<\/p>\n

Some of Sam\u2019s clients even have two trees in their home, one they purchase and decorate themselves – one the kids can ruin, as it were – then a \u2018best\u2019 tree they commission from Sam for their drawing room. Whilst a six or seven-foot tree is average for domestic clients, things tend to scale up for the corporate market.<\/p>\n

One of Sam\u2019s clients for example is London\u2019s St Pancras Station. The decorations there? All Sam. Well, with some help from Bruno, her partner and second in command.\u00a0The station has 33,500,000 commuters each year, and its busiest time is rush hour. That\u2019s why Sam and Bruno spend nine solid nights decorating the station, using scissor lifts, scaffolding and all sorts of other paraphernalia… not to mention no fewer than 14,000 baubles.<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s the secret of creating a really great looking tree… apart from the obvious tactic of cheating by using a professional Christmas artist? Sam\u2019s first tip is to use an artificial tree. To some that\u2019s sacrilege, after all who doesn\u2019t love the scent of a real tree?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a surmountable issue,\u201d says Sam, revealing that she uses – gasp! – artisan scents to emulate the perfume of a real tree.\u00a0\u201cI\u2008always feel a bit guilty about discarding a real tree when the festive season is over, and when corporate clients request something large, like a 20ft tree, that guilt is especially palpable given that trees grow at just 1ft each year, after the first couple of feet, so that\u2019s a 25-30 year legacy you\u2019re destroying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAside from the ecological argument, artificial trees are manufactured to be symmetrical, they don\u2019t shed needles and they\u2019re the perfect shape. Aside from hugely expensive \u2018manicured\u2019 real trees – which are hand-trimmed every month or so throughout their growth to be trained into the perfect shape and carry a huge premium over conventional trees – an artificial tree is the only solution for a really evenly proportioned starting point. What\u2019s more, artificial trees aren\u2019t subject to leaning or moving as they dry out, which can cause decorations to slip or move about.<\/p>\n

Sam\u2019s other secret is that she commissions many of the elements for her clients\u2019 trees herself. Expensive decorations, she cautions, don\u2019t automatically make a great tree, and her decorations aren\u2019t necessarily sourced from designer names like Gisela Graham.<\/p>\n

However, an investment in quality where it counts is often wise. The lights Sam uses, for example, have bulbs spaced 5cm apart, not the usual 10cm, for a fuller look and a more \u2018lit\u2019 appearance.\u00a0They also link together sequentially, so just one socket and one cable from the tree can power a more or less infinite number of lights without a humongous tangle. Also, on the subject of lights, one of Sam\u2019s pet hates is the use of inappropriate coloured lights – ice white lights with red and gold trees, or warm white lights with blue and silver tree schemes, for example. It\u2019s like festive kryptonite to a professional tree artist.\u00a0Also, Sam doesn\u2019t use tinsel. Why? She can\u2019t say for sure, perhaps it\u2019s personal preference, it\u2019s just a bit dated, a bit ordinary…?<\/p>\n

In any case ribbon, she finds, provides more flexibility and somehow looks more polished. Having cut her teeth working for a couple of decades as a florist, Sam later joined a large garden centre, as their Christmas project manager and stylist. Two years ago, she left behind the city and moved to the area, retaining much of her client base (casinos; motor dealerships; corporate headquarters), but finding herself able to squeeze in both corporate and domestic clients down here.<\/p>\n

Sam never switches off from the festive season, and with five children and two grandchildren, still loves to make her own home as festive as possible each year.\u00a0Even though she reckons to have created over 1,000 trees in her career, the artist still has creativity to go and flair to spare. So, if you\u2019re looking to create a festive tree, garlands, wreath and any other decorations for your home or business this year, we\u2019ll happily endorse our saviour of the season, and implore you to spare yourself the hassle of creating your tree, enlisting Sam… your very own festive elf!<\/p>\n

Find Out More: Sam Fox is a professional Christmas Artist who designs, supplies, decorates and installs trees for her clients. Her company, Decorative Events, can be found at www.decorativeevents.org. Call 01406 701912 or 07484 225360.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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