By By EDWIN MODLIN II
Staff Writer
As Washington’s artisan community grows, it can rest easier when it comes to obtaining the art supplies it needs, thanks to a California native who came to Washington, by way of New Bern, to establish an art-supply business.
Chris Mathiot, who co-owns Art &Materials with his wife, Shelley, said Washington is the area he wanted to place his art-supply business.
“I also have an art-supply store in downtown New Bern, and a lot of our customers were coming from Washington,” he said. “So, we wanted to place another store here in Washington where a lot of our consumers are from. Plus, it’s such a beautiful area.”
The business is located in the Inner Banks Artisans Center.
After living in the Sacramento, Calif., area for 25 years, he decided to live and work around and near his family. So, the westerner made tracks to the East Coast to develop his passion for the arts. As a family run business, Mathiot’s children are involved in different aspects of the family business.
Bob Hinkle, manager of the Inner Banks Artisan Center, said the center has been filled with pedestrian traffic and shoppers since mid-February.
“It’s been full almost since we opened,” Hinkle said.
Because it was so full, Mathiot said, he had to wait to join the center until it had an opening.
“I decided to get out of the corporate world and come to North Carolina and run a business with my family,” he said. “And we thought, ‘What better business to run as a family than an art store,’” he said with a smile. “In talking with our customers (in the New Bern store), we noticed that they were frustrated that there was not an art-supply store in Washington, which is one of the reason’s we decided to come here.”
Mathiot said that of all the regions in the area that spoke up about not having an art store, Washington was the loudest, which is why he and his wife decided to open up shop in Washington.
Mathiot has worked with his distributors to get at least one student-grade line of art supplies and one professional-grade line as well. He sells an array of art supplies such as brushes, canvases, paints, oils, paper and more.
“We also sell ‘gifty’ sets, that are really selling well right now,” he said.
Mathiot even has examples of what the materials look like when they’re on canvas — something for the average person who is not “artist” or “painter” savvy and prefers to doodle.
Mathiot also has forms for customers to fill out when they want to order materials he does not have in stock. For example, someone wanting to order any materials such as paints, oils, canvas that he does not have in stock may browse through a catalog. The customer writes down the relevant information on the form, drops it off at the front of the store and the order will be placed. That is, if he doesn’t have them in his New Bern store, which is massive in comparison to the new Washington location.
He also gets supplies and materials ready for art classes.
Inner Banks Artisans Center is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. On Sundays, it’s open from noon to 5 p.m.