OUR GOAL IS SIMPLE:

We want to make people happy!

From authentic...

and passionate artisans...

...TO YOU

In an era where technology permanently and obsessively fills our personal and professional life and environments, we take the difficult challenge of transforming a traditional handiwork into the creation of a unique and affordable piece of kinetic art.

In an era where technology permanently and obsessively fills our personal and professional life and environments, we take the difficult challenge of transforming a traditional handiwork into the creation of a unique and affordable piece of kinetic art.

In an era where technology permanently and obsessively fills our personal and professional life and environments, we take the difficult challenge of transforming a traditional handiwork into the creation of a unique and affordable piece of kinetic art.

Our objective is pretty simple, we want to make everyone happy from our customers who can brighten their environments, to our craftswomen and men who’s work support a local economy, to supporting our philanthropic mission.

Our objective is pretty simple, we want to make everyone happy from our customers who can brighten their environments, to our craftswomen and men who’s work support a local economy, to supporting our philanthropic mission.

More than an equal enterprise opportunity, women prevail in all activities involved and we bring knowledge, train, educate and hopefully inspire.

More than an equal enterprise opportunity, women prevail in all activities involved and we bring knowledge, train, educate and hopefully inspire.

Our philanthropic mission consists in visiting youth cancer centers and retirement shelters and centers anywhere in the world where we gift POYSE to long-term patients and socially isolated elderly people.

POYSE is born from the collaboration of Bruno, a former healthcare provider and information technology industry executive who travelled the world interacting with people in the most remote locations and James, a social worker who’s passion is to assist and brighten the lives of people with needs.

Our objective is pretty simple, we want to make everyone happy from our customers who can brighten their environments, to our craftswomen and men who’s work support a local economy, to supporting our philanthropic mission.

More than an equal enterprise opportunity, women prevail in all activities involved and we bring knowledge, train, educate and hopefully inspire.

Our philanthropic mission consists in visiting youth cancer centers and retirement shelters and centers anywhere in the world where we gift POYSE to long-term patients and socially isolated elderly people.

POYSE is born from the collaboration of Bruno, a former healthcare provider and information technology industry executive who travelled the world interacting with people in the most remote locations and James, a social worker who’s passion is to assist and brighten the lives of people with needs.

Our philanthropic mission consists in visiting youth cancer centers and retirement shelters and centers anywhere in the world where we gift POYSE to long-term patients and socially isolated elderly people.

POYSE is born from the collaboration of Bruno, a former healthcare provider and information technology industry executive who travelled the world interacting with people in the most remote locations and James, a social worker who’s passion is to assist and brighten the lives of people with needs.

Meet the artisans

See how POYSE is created!

  • Ms. Ming
  • Mr. Dinh
  • Ms. Hai

Ms. Ming

Ms. Ming is a master craftswomen who has dedicated most of her life to making bamboo dragonflies. With her entrepreneural outlook enjoys working with POYSE to help inspire others.

Click here to learn how I make POYSE

1. The Making of POYSE's Wings

1. Bamboo Rods are peeled and cut into their full length. Ms. Ming adjusts the bamboo strings’ width.

2. The thickness and width are precisely adjusted with multiple passes.

3. The thickness and width of the bamboo string are those of the final POYSE wings.

4. It requires precision and careful attention to make adjustments.

5.. Ms. Ming’s tool to verify the bamboo strings correct width and thickness. Always adjusted according to the model.

6. Bamboo strings at the proper width and thickness were prepared. Wings are cut by placing a knife’s blade on the bamboo and hitting the knife.

7. Placement of the bamboo string on the chopping block

8. Holding firm for a hard hit!

9. A raw POYSE wing is born! The top and pointy tip will remain untouched until painted.

10. With unparalleled expertise Ms. Ming cuts the end of the wing.

11. Ms. Ming's tools.

12. The only mechanical tool used allows for POYSE’s wings rounded extremity shaping.

13. POYSE’s wings pointy tip and top must remain untouched. Only one of POYSE’s wings sides will be prepared to get a finish.

18 years ago, Ms. Ming was a farmer and to generate additional income for her family was also a souvenir seller at the temple of her little village of about one thousand farmer families in Northern Vietnam. One day she was approached by a bamboo dragonfly maker who asked her if she could sell them. From that day, Ms. Ming fell in love with them, so much in love that Ms. Ming decided to make her own. It took Ms. Ming six months of permanent work to finally make a good one and over the years mastered the making of bamboo dragonflies and now POYSE.

Ms. Ming always used the same traditional techniques that enabled her (and team) to hand make bamboo dragonflies that are the primary source of income for her family with three children.

Ms. Ming is proud and loves her bamboo dragonfly activity and she has trained many people in the making that requires a lot of practice and dedication. Unfortunately, most people give up because they find the work difficult as it takes a long time learn!

Ms. Ming explains, "Working with a knife on a natural product with many imperfections is always intimate, a fight between me and the material. I do not always win and these are unique imperfections you may find on your POYSE."  
 
There are no words to qualify Ms. Ming attention, concentration, expertise and dexterity to make your unique POYSE.

Mr. Dinh

Mr. Dinh is experienced in crafting bamboo and has developed excellent precision to give POYSE a perfect balance. Mr. Dinh has enjoyed working with new specifications to create a unique product for people to enjoy.

Click here to learn how I make POYSE

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15. It all starts with a wide bamboo rod that has been dried for months and peeled of it’s outer shell.

16. At this stage, Mr. Dinh already knows how many original POYSE bodies he will be able to make from the rod.

17. The POYSE body width reference tool is placed on top of the bamboo rod before it’s hit for a precise cut.

18. Hitting with the precise strength and speed to allow for a perfect cut.

19. POYSE’s rostrum section has been thinned only to leave the outer shell. Now the body length is checked.

20. POYSE’s body thickness is precisely carved from the inner/bottom side.

21. POYSE’s body right side is carved.

22. POYSE’s body left side is carved.

23. Mr. Dinh's tools.

....

24. Wings are inserted in the body

25. A first balance test in performed.

26. Wings' placement adjustment

27. Several adjustments to the wings’ placement are required to obtain POYSE's desired posture at rest.

28. Posture and balance test.

29. Adjusting the balance is a delicate and long process

30. It’s a succession of micro adjustments and tests.

31. The smallest change in the wings' placement has major balance/posture repercussions.

32. When carefully adjusting the balance of a raw POYSE, Mr. Dinh always considers the impact paint weight will have.

33. Voila!  After several precise adjustments and tests.

17 years ago, Mr. Dinh was doing craft bamboo work when he met with Ms. Ming and learned from her the skills to make bamboo dragonflies. On many occasions he thought about giving up because it was too hard, the love of his job is what kept him making them. Making bamboo dragonflies requires a lot of attention, skills and passion.

With Ms. Ming they invented and built their own tools to make bamboo dragonflies. Despite our deep knowledge and expertise in making bamboo dragonflies we had to invent new tools to make POYSE, says Mr. Dinh.

The making of a POYSE requires 15 steps excluding painting/visual customization that can take up to 5 steps with some of the current models. With expertise, it takes about 30 minutes (excluding painting) to make a POYSE.

Ms. Hai

Ms. Hai is committed to supporting her children and wants to give them the opportunity of better education. Ms. Hai enjoys painting POYSE's new intricate patterns and looks forward to further involvement learning a new design process. 

Click here to learn how I make POYSE

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34. Ms. Hai enjoys working outdoor in the shadow of the farmers’ market tents.

35. Ms. Hai has never used a paint brush. Instead she uses the tip of a little jar filled with paint.

36. Ms. Hai customizes the upper layer with touches of paint.

37. Ms. Hai applies touches of glitter on fresh paint.

 
Ms. Hai, a mother of two has always lived in the village and aside from working in the rice fields she sells souvenirs and has been painting and customizing bamboo dragonflies for over 10 years.

Recently, Ms. Hai joined the POYSE team as one of our painters.
If Ms. Hai is able to paint hundreds of bamboo dragonflies per day, when it comes to painting the POYSE Tribal collection she can make no more than 10 per day only working from the design memory!

“I have always used the same technique and painted the same designs for the last decade, POYSE’s painting brings me new challenges” says Ms. Hai.
 
Ms. Hai wishes that her involvement with POYSE will enable her to “give better education to my children.”