The floral cards in our collection can take up to ten months of practice time for an apprentice before one flower reaches the marketplace. The florals are all done "freehand" by eye and brush stroke. The brush strokes are very fast, so (as with all watercolor painting) there is no second chance and no room for error. Over the years I have developed brush stroke techniques for fine art production painting which can involve using up to ten applications of color on a single card, each card taking less than two minutes to produce. Since the artists are paid by piecework (they average $8-12 per hour) and since they all come to work to have fun they continually invent new ways to paint the cards faster while maintaining the "J. STONE LOOK" - a delicate balance! Creating over one million "little paintings" each year, five staff artists can be found listening to their favorite god-awful music on headphones or having huge debates over world issues, watermelon seeds, or wedding dresses! I deeply honor the skill, dedication, and quality of artwork these painters are accomplishing daily. They in turn are honored that their work is sold through major museum gift shops across the U.S. as well as Neiman Marcus, Gumps, and approximately 7000 other wonderful stores who carry our product.