‘It’s a pleasure and a privilege to work at my passion’
KATE O’Keeffe always wanted - to work for herself andd had tried a few ideas before eventually starting Art On A Slate (originally Klok Krafts)) in 2001, which consists of makingg hand crafted and painted, one of a kind slate gifts for every occasion..
Kate works with reclaimed slatee from derelict buildings in the Duhallow area and each piece is produced at her studio near Ballydesmond.d. She also has a shop and showroomm attached to her house where clientss can buy from stock or order a custom made piece.
“My customers are anyone of any age or gender looking for a unique gift or presentation piece for any occasion,” says Kate.
She has built up a large client base over her 15 years in business and has a very loyal following. “I also get incredible support locally and my work is now in homes in many corners of the world,” she says.
With a unique product - combing art, craft and upcycling - Kate has no direct competition.
“I sell direct to each client, so I don’t supply pieces to any outlets as I have limited production, due to the fact that I make every piece by hand myself.
“I also allow each client to have an input in the design. They get to choose the colour and shape as well as the wording and background painting of their piece.”
The designs can includes options of a clock or picture frame, and the combination all these, as well as size, determines the price for each piece, which range from just €5 upwards.
In recent years Kate has sold enough from home without doing shows. “[ This] has made a fantastic difference to my production quantities as I was splitting my time between promoting my business and maintaining production,” she says.
Constantly learning and evolving as an artist, she has an endless option of markets available as the slate “is a fantastic material to work with and its possibilities are only limited by imagination”.
Looking to the future, she says she is learning every day and finding different ways to attract new clients. She is also currently doing a course in digital marketing, which is proving to be a fantastic tool for marketing her work to a larger audience.
She now also has a courier service delivering any size piece to anywhere in Ireland. She is also developing a new workshop for preparing the slate, which will further increase production volumes.
In the near future she also intends to set up an e-commerce site to further streamline the business.
She has produced thousands of totally unique and personalised pieces over the last 15 years, working from what is a relatively remote area.
“I have worked incredibly hard to ensure each and every piece exceeds the exception of each client because I appreciate that they choose to spend their hard earned money on my work,” she says. “It’s a pleasure and privilege to be able to work at my passion every day.”