June 8, 2007 — Awl Made Here is a clever play on words.
"Everything is made by local artists," says owner Tracey Keating O'Brien.
As for the awl, that's a tool used to make leather goods — the St. John store's specialty.
O'Brien handcrafts slews of leather goods at her store, located in the Skinny Legs Bar and Restaurant complex in Coral Bay. Her tiny shop is filled with journal covers, wallets, book covers, album covers, bags and belts in stock.
"Pretty much anything you can think of," she says.
Take a look around and you'll see leather and cloth bags made with fabric left over from a St. John decorator's projects, as well as bags made out of jeans with leather straps.
In addition to O'Brien's work, the store carries earrings, hand-painted wine and champagne glasses, carved calabashes, leather wind chimes and coconut bird feeders, all made by St. John residents.
O'Brien also does custom work that involves collaboration with buyers. Buyers outline what they'd like and she does the design and makes it up.
She also makes repairs, including removing mold from myriad leather goods.
"Mold is a hazard of being down here," she says.
A self-taught leather worker who took a few college art courses to augment her basic artistic talent, she says she gets her ideas from other people and magazines.
"I put it together with my own twist," she says.
O'Brien, 35, opened Awl Made Here in 1994, two years after she moved to St. John from North Carolina.
She bounced around from her native New York City after graduating from high school, but soon settled into St. John. O'Brien says she was looking around for something to do when she found a small space at the shopping center.
Along the way, she has had some unusual experiences. Early on she decided to try to use local hides instead of ordering from off island. Someone who had butchered a goat gave her the skin, which she proceeded to tan right outside her shop.
It was a male goat, and male goats have a smell that's particularly strong.
"I did it once and that was enough," she says.
When O'Brien is not busy at the shop, she's at the beach or working on an artistic project.
Awl Made Here is open from 11:30 a.m. to 5:20 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The store usually closes in August and September.
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