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Homes

Art and jewelry on parade

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published September 23, 2005

Suzanne Wightman christened her cozy hideaway of a shop Art Tarts for several reasons, but mainly because she likes to joke that anything in the shop is for sale, from the antique display armoire to the funky chairs out front to the '50s-style mosaic garden table she made for the kitchen.

"We are tarts and will sell you pretty much anything in here," she says, laughing.

Of course, the real reason people come to the store tucked away along MacDill Avenue not far from the restaurant, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, is to buy art, handmade jewelry and a plethora of items for the home.

Wightman, a former model, design consultant and home-rehabber, who looks a lot like country singer Emmylou Harris, carries the work of five dozen local artists as well as other artists from all over the country:

Soft silk pillows, crazy paintings of cats and dogs embellished with Scrabble letters, birdhouses and people made from recycled Honduran tin, stained glass, blown glass, hand-painted throw rugs and the works of local potters.

Hand-painted ceramic signs for beach houses, offer nuggets of wisdom from "Let it go" to "Life's good!"

Of course, she carries a variety of other quirky and elegant things for the home, including handmade French potpourri that she sells loose in antique enamel buckets, then packs in Chinese takeout boxes.

An old-fashioned baby cradle holds a selection of vintage hats, antique crystal doorknobs sparkle on a shelf, Zen clocks gently chime and handsome rusted fireplace grilles remain a favorite with customers.

She prides herself on being affordable. Yes, you can spend $600 on one of the wildly colorful horse paintings by local artist, Sue Stewart, but Wightman also carries plenty of "$10 teacher gifts."

The store is well stocked with imported loose teas, aromatic Art-Tart blend coffee, glass teapots with built-in infusers, and individual French coffee presses for an office desk.

She originally opened the shop as The Artful Soul but had had to change the name after a store owner in California claimed to have been using it first.

Wightman, a jewelry maker herself, chose the catchy Art Tarts because "I wanted to keep art first in the name." Handmade jewelry by area artists is one of the store's biggest draws.

"I also felt like there was no venue for local artists to sell their work," she explains. "Many of them have regular jobs because they're not able to make a living just selling art. But this gives them a venue, a place to sell it and have it seen."

Nestled in an old house that has been cleverly made to look like it's part of a strip mall, Wightman wanted the interior of the store to feel like a home, too. She arranged merchandise so that customers feel like they're meandering a garden path. She painted a tree in the bathroom and left the original kitchen a kitchen, painting the floors and cabinets snappy colors to give it zing. Beaded cotton lanterns in cool, pastel colors light the way.

Folk and world music pulses softly in the background. Groupings of tables and chairs invite conversation.

"I envisioned this not just as a store, but as a place where artists could gather and talk," she says. "Where they could share ideas and talk. But most of all, I wanted it to be interesting."

[Last modified September 22, 2005, 09:00:09]