FunKtional Creations also features birthday parties where groups of six to 15 children create ceramics while they are fed refreshments and the guest of honor gets a hand-painted personalized plate with the signatures of all those who attended the party.
BY BOBBY COMMAND
WEST HAWAII TODAY
BCOMMAND@WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM
If you’re in the market for a family heirloom, Antoinette “Toni” Sharfin may have the shop for you.
Sharfin’s FunKtional Creations at the Kona International Market allows customers to paint their own ceramic masterpiece or build mosaics, which can be functional, but is always a work of art.
“It’s a place to get creative,” said Sharfin, who began her business as a custom furniture painting shop about a year ago, and then added the “Pele’s Pottery” and “Create A Mosaic” studios two months ago.
Sharfin, who said her shop would not be unique on the mainland, said she was so impressed by a similar operation she visited while on vacation that she decided Kailua-Kona would be a perfect place for one.
“I went back to my hometown and I was looking for a salad bowl, and I saw this shop,” she said. “I made a couple of pieces and my daughter did a few others, and I thought to myself, ‘This would be great for Hawaii.'”
Business has been brisk as more people discover that they can come away with a unique, personalized gift.
Sharfin said there are fun pieces of unpainted bisque pottery, including fish, geckos, slippers, mermaids and surfboard boxes. But there are also functional items like salad bowls, dinner plates and martini and margarita glasses. There are also oriental items, sake sets, pizza plates, jewelry boxes and picture frames.
Mosaics, which can be used for smaller items like picture frames or larger things like table tops, are available in fun and tropical motifs. She said there are patterns with dolphins, palm trees, geckos, trivets and mirrors.
The common thread is that they are all one of a kind.
Unlike a traditional art studio, Sharfin charges no hourly studio fees. This allows customers to spend as much time as they want on their heirloom. “Smaller pieces can take 15 minutes,” said Sharfin, who said she encourages people to take their time while working on the outdoor tables in the breezeways. “Some can work on the larger ones for a couple of hours.”
The firing in the kiln as well as all supplies and ideas are included in the price of the pottery. “Customers are supplied with tools and paints. There are also stamps, stencils and books filled with ideas.
“All you need to do is apply the tiles,” said Sharfin, a self-taught artist who moved to Hawaii from Taos, N.M., via Alaska for three years. “The grouting and sealing will be done by me.”
Sharfin said many people put together pieces as gifts, such as Mother’s Day items or cups or plates with imprints of their children’s hands or feet.
While some are hesitant at first about being creative, Sharfin said no one has ever been disappointed when they picked up their finished piece — that takes about three or four days or whenever Sharfin has enough work to place in her kiln.
“I have yet to have someone creeped out at what they did,” she said. “And that’s the beauty of ceramics: It’s so easy to make something nice. Everything comes out an heirloom.”
FunKtional Creations also features birthday parties where groups of six to 15 children create ceramics while they are fed refreshments and the guest of honor gets a hand-painted personalized plate with the signatures of all those who attended the party.