St. John artist Mikki Addison always played around with creative endeavors, but lately she’s pushed that avocation to a new level by selling her wares.
Addison is now creating textiles that range from crocheted market bags and handbags made from dyed and natural kitchen twine to placemats, napkins and table runners adorned with sea fan images. To create them, she paints sea fans and presses them onto the fabric.
“If people want to take something home besides a memory, it fits in their luggage,” Addison said.
One of her latest endeavors is wind chimes made of copper pipes reclaimed from a plumbing replacement project, and she’s starting to dabble in pottery. She’s also gathering beach glass to see what ideas it inspires.
Addison, 54, finds that creating artwork is a relaxing way to express her creativity and to use materials in unusual ways.
“I’m not a big reader, so I like to be moving around creatively,” she said.
Her pieces are for sale at the Friends of V.I. National Park store at Mongoose Junction shopping center and Colorful Corner gift shop at the Bordeaux overlook.
Like many St. John artists, Addison takes her cue from the island’s natural beauty. For example, her table linen has a marine motif and she’s decorated her handbags with shells.
“Not from National Park beaches,” she’s quick to add, noting that taking shells from park beaches is not allowed.
She’s also inspired by the fact that St. John has so many artists on the island whose ideas feed her ideas. She said that she’ll often see something done by another artist, thinks to herself that she could put her own spin on that and comes up with a new way to create something.
Addison carves out an hour here and an hour there from her job as manager of Coconut Coast Villas, a position she shares with her husband of 22 years, Frank Addison.
The two retired early from corporate jobs in North Carolina – Addison worked in human resources at a bank – with the idea they’d do something different for the second part of their working careers. They were frequent visitors to St. John, and when they learned about the Coconut Coast job, they jumped at the chance. They moved to St. John just over a year ago.
They’ve adapted and are enjoying the simpler lifestyle enjoyed by many St. John residents, she said.
When she’s not busy at Coconut Coast’s front desk or designing something new to sell, she and her husband are out snorkeling.
Addison was no stranger to the beach life. Although she was born in Washington, D.C., she grew up in Satellite Beach, Fla.
“I always loved the water,” she said.
