Our Day, Our Chat, and Our Great Pleasure, To Feature Our Friend Antoinette Gaskins Mattingly
WHO SHE IS....
Antoinette is a life long family friend, one of those you were never introduced to, but always knew. With a larger than life smile, to greet all those she sees, it is easy to fall into the category of life long friend. She brings that kinda flare into her artwork as well as her studio.
WHERE SHE IS...
On the historical fishing village of Kinnakeet (Avon), N.C., Kinnakeet Clay Studio and Showroom is nestled in an adorable shopping center right off the main road into Hatteras Island. “Right beside the Dairy Queen”, she said, in giving directions.Beside her studio is a coffee shop, that opens up “later than the one down the street”. Antoinette tells frequent seekers of early morning coffee, as their eyes wonder around at all the dancing clay figures on their crisp white surroundings.
WHAT SHE DOES...
“Antoinette creates two distinctly different lines of work in clay, hand pressed relief tiles (wall hangings) and functional stoneware.”
In her studio, a mix of several artisans work shows her diverse sense of style and appreciation of others in the world of art.
OUR DAY WITH ANTOINETTE...
WHAT WE SAW...
Nothing but pristine color everywhere. Absolutely stunning. Antoinette choose a white pilate to showcase the art around her studio. We continually oohed and aahed at all the treasures we passed by.
From beautiful drawer pulls to amazing press reliefs, all featured dutiful crawling crabs, dazzling seahorses, and dancing sunflowers, were just a few of the amazing creations that held us captive.
As mentioned before, Antoinette also features other artisans’ beautiful works of art. While proudly sashaying around her studio in one of her favorite skirts, Antoinette explained how she has come across so many of the pretties she displays and are currently sold in her showroom. “I just fill my space with things I love. Special soaps, are a luxury for me - it is the one thing I will spoil myself with. So it is something I enjoy bringing to my customers” She said with a sheepish grin.With drastic shifts in the economy, it is places like this that are effected greatly. Being a small business owner is not an easy feat, but as spoken in her interview portion, “Anything that is enjoyable, even if it is hard... It’s well worth it.”
“I am meeting my goals, I made goal in the beginning and they are happening” This expression of meeting goals was evident in many things Antoinette spoke of through our time with her. It was refreshing and encouraging to hear.
WHAT WE DID...
Antoinette prepared the most incredible morning for our girls in the midst of her working day.
Knowing of our plans to create a victory garden for the fall, she set up a small table with slabs of clay and all sorts of tools. With absolute patience and an unwavering smile, she walked the girls through the process of making “garden tags.” How amazing is she.
They each made several different tags. It was very important to Antoinette that each of the girls initials belonged to their work, labeling them all as they hurried along.
Her plans with us were not yet over. To our absolute surprise, Antoinette had the girls all take turns in creating a perfect and, of course, original bowl for them to keep. At each step, she gave great details about the process of her clay works.
From start to finish, a bowl, she explained, could take from a week in a perfect world to more like two weeks in a normal world. From throwing, to molding, to glazing and then firing, this is not a process for the faint of heart, but rather someone with a passion for their work.
Her attention to detail was evident in every possible aspect, from the placement and thought of her showroom to her diligence in all that she did for us. It is impossible for us to share how much her time and compassion meant to us as a family.
Her words will resonate within the hearts and minds of our girls for years to come. For this, I am so ever thankful.
To further our time and our experience with Antoinette, she has offered to create and make available to you our readers the same garden tags she help us make.
Take a visit on her webpage to see what she has available now.
LOVE..."Who she is..." Such great pictures and capture of the business. Nicely done.
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