"Best" Easles

[Terri]

Hi-
Anyone out there using an Easle made by Best, called the "Manhattan, or the other top of the line "Abique" with the optional tab tray attached? I've only seen photos, making it hard to judge their special features first hand. The Manhatten in particular has the 6o"wide fold-out work area, full tilt options, etc.
Specifically, I need to find out if you can in fact work comfortably from a seated positon as well as standing, or is the tray an obstruction on both or either model?

Thanks for any feedback!

Terri<FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Text</FONT f> ttalas@mediaone.net Text

[Arteology]

Terri,
I don't know how much help I will be, but at least I can vouch for Best being a great brand of easel. I own two Santa Fe II easels. Recently I looked at the Abique but decided on buying my second SFII instead. The feature of the painting tray with storage on the Abique only had one drawback in its design...if the easel is tilted backwards the tray is automatically tilted at the same angle and everything that you would have stored in the drawers would then roll to the back and out of reach. Plus, you couldn't set anything on top of the tray for the same reason. Hope this helps a little. Good luck!