From the outside, it looks like a charming shop with an artsy feel. Once inside, there’s no mistaking this is a place for creativity to blossom, do-it-yourself confidence to take hold and memories to be made. The Ponte Vedra Beach Board & Brush Creative Studio, located at 840 A1A North, Suite 150, hosted its grand opening Saturday, Sept. 14 with gift bags for the first 50 people and a chance to win a private VIP sign-making party for six valued at more than $400. Attendees got the first look inside the studio decorated with lots of signs to get the creative juices flowing. Workshops started the following day.
Novices will feel right at home at Board & Brush thanks to the instructor-led format of the workshops during which attendees are guided through the ins and outs of power tools, paint, art and assembly, with all materials supplied by the studio. Each workshop lasts about three hours and crafters can select from hundreds of design templates, with new ones added each month. The company works with top graphic designers around the country to create the designs, most with a vintage farmhouse look. Workshop cost is $68 and pre-registration is required.
Workshop attendees will see two longtime friends at the helm – Heather Burky-Lechwar and Mary Stewart. Appropriately, the two met in high school art class. They went to B&B workshop together in December for Burky-Lechwar’s birthday.
“We were both experiencing the stress of the holidays and walked in a bit cranky,” Burky-Lechwar said. “By the time we got to distressing the wood and painting the sign, we were all laughing.”
Burky-Lechwar made a sign that featured a calendar for recipes that would go perfectly in her farmhouse kitchen and that reminded her of her grandmother. Stewart selected a design with the location coordinates of her house with an outline of the state of Florida.
“I had a difficult time selecting a design, there were so many I liked that I wanted to go back and make eight more after that,” Stewart said.
Before the two left the studio, they decided they were going to open a Board & Brush in Ponte Vedra Beach. Stewart mentioned a bit of serendipity in that workshop encounter.
“Turns out I knew the owner of that particular Board & Brush in Saint Johns, Florida, and she provided great information on the business and, here we are, eight months later, opening our own studio,” Stewart said.
Both women are artsy types. Burky-Lechwar is a filmmaker and photographer and a DIYer.
“I redid my whole kitchen so you might call me an extreme DIYer,” laughed Burky-Lechwar. Stewart, an occupational therapist by trade, will now be focusing her energy on Board & Brush. “Any spare moment I had I was painting and rehabbing anything I could get my hands on, that’s my therapy, so I think of this new business venture as very therapeutic for me and for everyone who attends workshops,” Stewart said.
It didn’t hurt that owning a business was on both of their bucket lists.
“We’re putting our heart and soul into Board & Brush,” Stewart said.
While the owners are crafty types, they made a point to say you needn’t be an artist to do this, given the designs are stencil-based. “The creativity comes in selecting the design and the colors,” noted Stewart. “You’re creating something from scratch that you’re proud to display so it’s the best of both worlds.” The two mentioned how Board & Brush signs are nice for gifting too. “If you receive one, I guarantee you’ll never regift it,” chuckled Burky-Lechwar.
The Ponte Vedra Beach studio is located in the Corridors shopping plaza near the beach with cute cafés nearby. Inside the studio has a “coastal rustic theme” according to the owners, with floors that have the look of driftwood and signs hanging on the walls that speak to the area. Both women anticipate the beach-themed signs will be popular as well as the golf signs.
Burky-Lechwar and Stewart have already been busy fulfilling donation requests from local charities serving the homeless, those with juvenile diabetes and families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. Area non-profits interested in hosting a fundraising workshop should contact the studio directly.
For more information or to register for a workshop, visit boardandbrush.com/pontevedrabeach.
