After several summers working in a hot Florida Keys yard, there was a real need for a new functional space for Gayle Antonides. The potter’s makeshift setup — involving a tent, a pottery wheel balanced on a storage tub, and a lawn chair — had become too susceptible to mosquitos, storms, and soaring temperatures.
Antonides, who uses they/them pronouns, knew they had to make the move, partly for the wider community, which they felt they could provide with a missing resource.
Now, the self-taught artist has established Bugs Ceramics Pottery Studio & Gallery at the Shops at Mallory Square in Key West. The space features a mix of original creations and instructive classes and workshops.
The switch-up in spaces provided some much-needed relief and room for expansion. Antonides, who grew up in the Florida Keys and won the Jeff MacNelly political cartoon contest before attending Florida A&M University, knows painters whose bedrooms doubly function as a studio and others who use their cars as permanent storage containers for supplies.
“Staying organized is the most important way to make limited space functional, but that’s easier said than done, especially for artists,” they said.
Still, Antonides always finds it funny when people come in and ask if classes are indeed taught in the cozy downtown space.
Although the studio may not look like a functioning classroom during regular hours, Antonides tucked features into every corner, including a “painting bar” with stools at the back of the studio.
As the number of potters and interested clients begins to tick up, Antonides welcomes a diversity of individual styles. The artist’s own creations differ from a lot of the expected local designs, which are inherently not “keys-y.”
“I grew up here so I think I started to get sick of the aesthetic of mermaids and seashells and palm trees,” Antonides explained, adding that they create neutral work in natural colors that avoid the bright tones typically seen here.
Coming off of the gallery’s first year, running a small business has turned out to be just as hard as Antonides thought it would, but they relish the opportunities it has provided.
“I’ve had so many people led to me by fate who really needed to get their hands on mud. I wouldn’t trade this job for the world. I hope the art scene in Key West can continue to grow despite the way it’s constantly snuffed out. I want everyone to know they are artists and have the capability to create just as much as you and I.”
