Atlantis Studio - Our Story
When I arrived to San Juan de Oriente, Nicaragua as a Peace Corps Volunteer in September of 1995 I could have never known I would be creating this website 25 years later.
Originally I was captivated by the native pottery tradition of the pueblo and how that cultural craft shed light to the heritage of the region not described anywhere else.
Getting to know and interact with the community for years I became aware of a movement around the pottery tradition that became new and exciting. It was still cultural pottery but that was a modern, personal touch that was shifting the work toward something that was both cultural and contemporary.
For over 20 years I supported that pottery movement by sponsoring over 50 artisans visits to my home in North Carolina, participating in hundreds of art events around the country and selling over 4 million dollars of cultural pottery out of the San Juan de Oriente, Nicaragua artisan community.
In 2018 when I started to build my home in the pueblo something shifted. As we poured the foundation of a second floor on the back side of the property I knew that would be the space for my own art studio......I had never even considered that idea up to that point.
For over two decades of supporting and collaborating with artists in designs, techniques concepts I never considered the artwork as my own, I just played a major role as the intermediary between the artisans as the community of customers who found so much joy and value in the work.
Establishing the Atlantis Studio in my home, being the creative force behind the work and developing the crew who assists be in making my visions a reality has been a exciting challenge for me.
I find an incredible amount of joy and freedom in assuming that role of artistic source behind the designs.
The concept of the Atlantis Studio printed designs has been one of the developments that I have installed into the process.
One of kind pottery sculptures have an important role in the art collecting world and remain the inspiration of the Atlantis Studio, however, the impact of those designs restricted to a small number of collectors is enjoyed by very few.
Whereas museum quality, original work in the hallmark of our process the high quality printed merchandise born out of our original designs are the opportunity to make an impact on a larger scale.
By focusing on the cultural and ecological designs that inspire or sculptures we can expand on those themes and present our customers functional items that both artistically align with our mission and work in a functional fashion.
I am proud to present Atlantis Studio designs. We hope out artistic inspirations find a way into your like in a practical and exciting way.
Paul